


Stolen Kidneys, Secret Hearts

by MegalovainaGaster



Category: Creepypasta - Fandom
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Amnesia, Assault, Attempted Murder, Cannibalism, Choking, Drunken Confessions, Drunken Shenanigans, Drunkenness, F/M, Ghoul Cannibalism, I'm Bad At Summaries, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm Bad At Titles, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Kidnapping, Murder, Nightmares, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Partial Nudity, Past Brainwashing, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Psychological Torture, Sexual Tension, Surgery, Tension, Torture, characters added as they come up, covering all my bases, new take on a cryptid, shock collar
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-05
Updated: 2019-08-18
Packaged: 2019-10-22 15:04:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 13
Words: 23,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17664806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MegalovainaGaster/pseuds/MegalovainaGaster
Summary: Everyone keeps secrets, it a fact of life.What if you knew something your weren't supposed to, would you admit it? What if your secrets, ones you didn't even know you were keeping, could ease another's pain. What would you do?





	1. Death and Discovery

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Chains](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/454574) by ValentinesDayGreen. 



~Saphira~

I heard the gun go off before I could even register what was happening. Pal went down like a felled tree, the newly formed hole in his head leaking blood onto the white shag carpet. The gun was heavy in my hands and the shock caused by the trauma of shooting the man who practically raised me caused my only thought to be _‘We’ll have to get rid of the carpet… Oh well I never really liked it anyways.’_

The gun made a loud thunk as it fell from my hand. I sank to my knees just watching the blood slowly ooze and congeal on Pal’s forehead. My eyes flicked up to the wall that was behind Pal, it was now splattered with bits of skull, blood and brain matter. Something about the sight bothered me, not like ‘oh god what have I done’ or ‘oh god he’s dead’, but more like ‘what a waste.’

The adrenaline coursing through my body was starting to dissipate now and I started to be able to piece what had just happened. Pal attacked me with a rather large and unfamiliar knife after coming back from a supply run… he had been bleeding pretty bad, it was quite surprising he had made it home judging by how much he was bleeding when he walked in… and he kept looking towards the cellar door.

I struggled onto my feet, applying pressure to the rather large gash on my thigh. Pal had gotten me as he had fallen. It didn’t hurt really-- no surprise guessing how much adrenaline was in my body-- but the wound was bleeding quite profusely.

I hobbled to the bathroom in search of the first aid kit. While I stitched the gash closed I couldn’t help but wonder what had prompted Pal to attack me like that; I mean we were by no means a happy “family”, but we also had no issues getting along most of the time.

With my wound taken care of I dared to look in a mirror. My long black hair was half out of its bun and my eyes had dark bags from lack of sleep. I could just barely see the red mark on my neck from the collar rubbing it raw. Remembering the shock collar made me realize just how lucky I was to be alive.

Had Pal been thinking clearly he would have used the collar to knock me unconscious then killed me. The collar would be a weird or even fucked up thing for an outsider to see, but I knew what it was for. It kept me from wandering off in my sleep and hurting myself or someone else. Now the question was where was the key to get the stupid thing off… Pal kept it in the cellar I think…. The cellar… why did Pal keep glancing at the cellar when he was attacking me?

I made my way down into the cellar; my eyes having trouble adjusting to the low light. The cellar was just as I remember it, cool, dank and furnished with musty couches, chairs and an old desk. Pal probably would keep the key in the desk. Before I could even finish going down the stairs I noticed in the corner a slumped over figure, it’s arms suspended over its head by shackles and its hands trapped in what I could only describe as steel mittens. _‘Please don’t move, for the love of everything, don’t move’_ I pleaded silently, and as if they had heard my thoughts they lifted their head and shifted. The resulting silence was like TV static, irritating and I just wanted it to stop.

 

~Jack~

I lifted my head and shifted in my bonds. _'What had woken me up?'_ I wondered. The room was still dimly lit but now I could smell blood, both in the room and from somewhere above. My mouth watered, and my stomach growled loudly.

_‘How long has it been since I last eaten? Two… three days maybe?’_

Suddenly there was a hand on my shoulder, making me flinch involuntarily. A face appeared a few feet from my face, this was not the square, cruel face of my captor but the angular one of a girl not much younger than me. She had raven colored hair and eyes the color of… well it was hard to tell what color they were in the low light. I watched as her lips moved and her voice was soothing and melodic.

"Shh, don't move, I'll get you free,” She said reaching out for my mask, but I shook my head no. I was relieved when she didn’t press the issue or ask why. "Alright then, any idea where the keys are?" She asked. I nodded my head in the direction of the desk in the corner, not trusting myself to speak without scaring her off. As the girl moved away I could just barely make out a bandage wrapped around her left thigh with a dark stain on it. That must be the source of the bloody smell down here.

"Let's see here, truck, house, shed, boat, collar… ah!" She cried holding up a key. Sliding it into one of the locks on my right arm and the lock clicked open. My right arm to fall to the floor with a loud thump. It hung limply by my side, my hand still encased in the steel ball. A second lock clicked open and my left arm fell to the floor with another loud thump. The girl moved to unlock the steel balls encasing my hands but froze with the key in the lock.

 

~Saphira~

I was just about to free the boy when the sound of trucks stopping outside and doors opening and closing reached my ears.

"Where is the girl?" A man asked, he sounded angry and was all too familiar. I darted to the stairs and quietly shut and locked the door. I could only hope that they wouldn’t try to force the door or even notice it at all.

"Search the house,” They were searching for me. At least three other people started to search the house, giving off pops of sound. Footsteps of varying gait walked past the cellar door repeatedly but no effort to open the door was made. Suddenly the footsteps stopped, and a second voice could just barely be heard.

"Hey Boss! In here!" It sounded like the men were now gathered where Pal was lying.

“Looks like the bitch must’ve shot him,” This was said by a third male and a fourth scoffed.

“Poor bastard probably never saw it coming,” Four said.

“Send out search parties for the girl, I want her dead or alive,” One--he seemed to be the leader--barked. The group walked out and then could be heard getting into their truck and driving off. I let out a shaky breath I didn't know I was holding. My breathing dissolved into body wracking sobs, that had been far too close for comfort. Suddenly something scraped the floor reminding me that the boy was still trapped here.

“Let’s get you out of here shall we?” I muttered wiping my cheeks, making my way over to the boy. I turned the key with trembling fingers.

The steel ball fell away with a clatter. I froze when I saw his hand, his skin was an unnatural, almost shark gray and his nails were long and sharp. Like longer than not clipping them for three months--which I have done-- and like they have been filed into a point.

My eyes widened in surprise, and suddenly I was on my back with the guy on top of me, his hand around my neck.

“Wha-” And that was it, I blacked out.


	2. Interrogation Part one

~Jack~

The girl froze when the steel ball encasing my left hand fell away. Her eyes widened and I took that as my cue to act. I lunged forward and wrapped my left hand around her throat. While my muscles were still stiff and weak from disuse, I still had the reflexes of a killer. Her eyes widened further in surprise. Now I could discern that she had sectoral heterochromia in both eyes.

“Wha-” Was all she said before her eyes fluttered shut and the tension left her body. I was relieved that she hadn’t tried to fight me, I wasn’t sure I could have subdued her with only one, weak hand.

Removing my hand, I noticed that a bruise was well on its way to forming. For a moment I was afraid I had killed her, but her breathing was slow and deep like she was sleeping, and in a way she was. Up close I could see that there a split in her lip that had only recently scabbed over and what looked like a high-end shock collar rubbing her neck raw.

Then I became aware of a dampness on the inside of my left thigh. Looking down I saw a tear, surrounded by blood. Beneath the tear in the girl’s shirt was a wound, still oozing the sweet-smelling liquid. After unlocking the lock that kept my right-hand prisoner I found a thin blanket that was easy to rip into strips to use to bandage the wound. The girl hadn’t shown any sign that she was aware of this wound, if she had been she would have probably made some sort of effort to take care of it as she bandaged the wound on her thigh.

Once I was satisfied the wound was well bound, I tried to make my way to the stairs but found that my legs were too weak from lack of food and use. I ended up crawling to and up the stairs. The lock on the door was a simple hook and loop and the latch on the door itself was broken. As the door swung open I was met with the sight of my captor lying dead behind the couch. A small pool of his own blood puddled around him, a bullet hole was punched in his forehead, and a knife that looked much like Jeff’s lying near his hand.

Frankly I wish I had been the one to kill him, but him becoming my most substantial meal in however long it had been would have to do. I picked up the knife, it was no scalpel, but it would have to do.

I used the knife to messily cut the man’s stomach open, after that I just used my hands to rip the organ out of his body starting with his kidneys. It was almost funny, the being who had starved me for so long had become my first real meal in however long it had been.

When I had eaten my fill, I looked around the house. It was an open layout with a spiral staircase in one corner and two obvious doors and then a camouflaged basement door in another. Sitting in an alcove that overlooked the valley below was a grand piano and table covered in picture frames. I walked over to look closer at the photographs. The first photo was of the man with a blonde woman in what looked like it could be Rome. The happiness of the man disgusted me, but at the same time he couldn’t help but wonder who the woman was.

I knocked the frame off the table and then the next three. I was about to knock a fourth when I realized that this one had a second girl, this one a brunette, in it. Upon closer inspection I found this second girl to be identical to the girl from the basement. She looked to be about ten and her eyes concealed behind a pair of dark sunglasses. I made my way slowly down the table, studying each and every picture. The girl’s age fluctuated throughout the photos--meaning they weren’t in chronological order--, but her eyes were always hidden. Around the time the girl was twelve the woman stopped showing up in the photos. The last picture on the table was probably the most recent and now her hair was pitch black and long, the background appeared to be the kitchen. There was a cake sitting in front of her with candles in the shape of an eighteen. So the girl was at least eighteen years old.

After studying the photos I turned back to searching the house. The door closest to the basement door was a spacious bathroom. The next room reeked of the man; just the smell made my stomach turn but there was also a hint of my own scent. It came from a drawer in the nightstand.

Opening the drawer revealed my gloves and my tool kit. I rolled it open on the bed--finding it to be just as I remembered--and pulled my scalpel out with a flourish. Ah, my lovely scalpel...! If I were Jeff, I probably would have removed my mask to cuddle the tool against my face. But I wasn’t Jeff, so I just smiled as I ran a gloveless finger along the blade to test its sharpness. Still as sharp as the day I’d last held it, I noted with satisfaction. A couple of quick slashes of the air revealed that while my skills were still mostly on point, though I was still weak and sluggish.

The top of the stairs opened into a pale blue girl’s room with a small-ish bathroom to the left. This must be basement girl’s room. Hanging on the railing was a nameplate with faded blue writing on it. Sapphire it read; so, the girl’s name is Sapphire.

The girl must be his daughter or something. Recalling the wounds the girl had, I could only guess that the man had gone out for food for me when he was likely wounded. Probably fearing that he would be out of commission for a while--and having not fed me in sometime--the man must’ve figured that he could kill his ward, kill Sapphire, and use her organs to feed me until he was healed enough to go hunting again.

_‘I guess he didn’t love you as much as you thought…’_

 

~Saphira~

I opened my eyes to see my pale blue ceiling. _‘Nope, not where I was last.’_ Sitting up I noticed that my left leg had something clamped around it. Lifting the blanket I was confronted with the sight of my left leg shackled to the bed.

I did my best to stay calm and not just shut down at this revelation. ‘ _You’ll be okay, no one would ever send you…. No one would ever send me where?’_ I tried to remember but the answer never came.

I jumped when I heard the sound of someone coming up the stairs. It was the male from the basement; in the light I could guess he was at least twenty, muscular with brown hair. He still wore the mask, now I could see that it was a deep blue with tears painted on in black. The eye holes were covered with black gauze to conceal his eyes. He seemed different somehow, like he was stronger now. As he drew closer I caught the scent of blood and raw meat coming off him.

I opened my mouth to scream out of instinct, but he crossed the room at an inhuman speed to clamp his now gloved hand over my mouth. His scent was overpowering now, making my stomach turn.

“There is no need to scream,” He purred his voice was filled with a ruthless sort of pleasure. I stared where his eyes would be, frightened of what he planned on doing to me. Images of the perverse things that happened to girls in situations like this. I was dragged back to reality by a cold chuckle from the guy.

“It’s not like anyone can hear you anyways,” It was true, we were deep in the forest, with no one in a five-mile radius. We were all alone here, just him and me. Seeing the fear in my face, he seemed satisfied by my reaction and leaned forward just a bit.

“I’m going to remove my hand. If you scream, I’ll do things you’ve only heard about in horror stories. Understood?” I nodded, and he pulled back and removed his hand.

“Who are you...?” I whispered, my voice shaky.

“Jack. More specifically, people call me ‘Eyeless Jack’, though just ‘Jack’ is fine. I take it you’re Sapphire?”

“Saphira actually,” I muttered still trying to keep my wits about me. With that question answered I became silent, waiting for him to speak. The guy— “Jack”—didn’t speak, just staring at me silently and giving me time to think. Swallowing, finally I croaked.

“Are you going to kill me?” Immediately I regretted asking and I squeezed my eyes shut, holding my breath as I waited for his reaction.

“If I were, I would have killed you by now, wouldn’t I?” He pointed out, and I opened one eye to see him lifting the covers off me. I winced and bit back the instinctive urge to cry out as he reached for the bottom of my shirt and began pulling it up. He lifted my shirt up half way so I could look under it. Bandages were wrapped tightly around my abdomen, covering all the exposed skin and continuing under the rest of my clothes. I shuddered as I noticed a large red stain along my side, recalling how Pal had attacked me.

“The injuries weren’t too deep and you didn’t lose too much blood, so treating it was simple enough,” Silence fell as I just stared at the bandages, trying to process all of this. Jack said nothing and just stood there, patiently waiting for me to finish absorbing everything.

“Why keep me alive” I finally asked, my voice barely audible. I gave a startled yelp as he suddenly gripped my chin and tilted my head upwards, his mask now mere inches from my face. Slowly he reached towards his mask with his other hand. As he moved it up to reveal the lower half of his face, my eyes grew wide. His skin was just as gray as his hand, and his mouth... It twisted into an evil-looking smile that revealed rows of sharp, pointed teeth. They were like that of a Great White shark, strands of something white and stringy hung from the tips.

I felt my face twitch with fear and disgust as I took everything in, including the smell of his breath. His smile seemed to only grow wider as he observed my reaction, satisfied and excited. Slowly he leaned forward, his breath warm as he whispered into my ear.

“ _Because I have a few questions that I think only you can answer,”_


	3. Interrogation Part two

_Numbness filled his mind as Jack lay sprawled on the floor, his scalpel lying just out of his limp reach. A syringe protruded from the side of his neck, filling his body with numbness. His own tool, turned against him. How ironic. A shadow loomed over him as the man stared down at him, his mouth curled into a somewhat manic smile as he picked up the scalpel to remove it from Jack’s range._

_“Don’t worry,” he cooed, kneeling by him with a crazed smile. Crazy. This man was crazy. As Jack’s consciousness faded, he faintly heard the man say, “I won’t hurt you. You’ll be my new pet, my very special pet… a good companion one day for the other….”_

 

~Jack~

I smirked at the daughter of the man who had held me hostage for so long, savoring the look of fear on her face as I held her chin. Fear was such a wonderful emotion, it made my blood race, my heart pound with excitement. Seeing the raw terror in people’s eyes as they helplessly watched me slowly cut into them was one of my favorite parts of hunting. It had been so long since I’d last seen that look, and to finally see it again in Sapphire’s impossibly pale face gave me a much needed sense of power after spending so long feeling powerless.

I had no intentions of harming her, though. She had saved me, after all. Even if she hadn’t been the one to kill my captor, she had been the one to release me from my restraints. She could have easily never entered the basement and just left, leaving me there until I died of starvation. Right now, she was probably regretting that decision.

“Do you think you can answer a few questions?” I asked with a sweet smile, fully aware that strings of flesh and muscle still clung to my teeth. Ah, the fear in her eyes, so sweet, so delicious-looking. She just nodded.

“Good,” I released her chin and her head limply fell forward, while I stepped back to give her some space.

Interrogating people was a rather tricky process; it required just the right amount of fear so that they would answer honestly, but not just agree to avoid punishment. Based on the look on her face, I should be fine to start now.

“I’ll start with a simple one. What was that man’s name?”

“Pal Ross,” Pal? That man was no pal of mine. Or hers, I thought with a glance at the bandages and the collar round her neck.

“Is that his real name?” There was a flicker of something in her eyes then it was gone.

“As far as I can remember,” Hmm…

“Alright,” I said, deciding not to press any further. It didn’t really matter anyway. If she called him “Pal”, it was probably his primary moniker and that was enough for me.

“What was your relation to him?” There was that flicker again.

“He took care of me for as long as I can remember, then” She suddenly stopped, looking at me in horror. The look on her face clearly portrayed her thoughts.

“I’m not interested in getting revenge on you for his actions,” I told her off-handedly. “I wish I’d been the one to kill him, but he’s dead and I got a meal, so I’m satisfied,”

“Meal?” I abruptly leaned into her face again with a large smile, making her wrinkle her nose and scoot back.

“Organs,” I purred. “Lovely, tasty organs. Kidneys are so delicious, but any organ will do. They’re all so tasty. The fresher, the better,” Color drained from her face as I licked my lips for emphasis, too shocked to even shake, and I pulled away in satisfaction.

“Moving on, exactly where is this place?” She didn’t respond right away, making my smile fade. “Sapphire... Don’t make me ask again...” She blinked rapidly as if coming out of a trance.

“It’s Saphira and the forest!” She blurted, an angry edge to her voice as she corrected me. “I don’t know the name off the top of my head...!” Her eyes moved from item to item in the room then out the window as she began rambling, making me sigh. Looks like I’d gone a little too far.

“Saphira...” Her rambling abruptly halted and she winced at my voice, slowly training her eyes on a spot just to my left, a fearful look on her features. My earlier sadistic smirk was now gone, my expression much calmer. “Do you at least know the name of the nearest town or city?”

“Nearest...?” She trailed off, frowning as she fell into thought. “We’re halfway between Theodosia and Drisking,” Her eyes darkened and skin paled further. “It’s about an hour’s drive from here,”

I tapped my chin thoughtfully. Drisking? The name was familiar and it sent involuntary chills down my spine. Nonetheless I was relatively sure it was a few towns over from the town where I’d made my own hideout.

“I assume that means we’re in Missouri?” I asked, just to be sure, and after a moment she nodded. In that case, it shouldn’t be too far to get to my home. The thought of finally going back filled me with a sense of bliss. It had been so long since I’d last been in my own home, slept in my own bed, or any bed, for that matter.

“...What’s the date?” Once again, I was answered with silence, making me frown. “...Saphira?” Her eyes were fixed on something outside the window. “Saphira!” Her body spasmed for a second before she spoke.

“I can’t remember… I mean, I don’t know how long I was out—”

“A few hours,” I supplied. Saphira nodded slowly, thinking.

“September 21” I nodded thoughtfully as I considered this. It had been March or April when I’d been captured. Spring had already passed and summer was nearly over while I was stuck chained in a basement, kept as the “pet” of a madman. Then I remembered something Pal had said a while back.

_“I wonder what your babies will look like? Will they have her eyes or your sockets?”_

_‘Was the man keeping another “pet?” Did he have plans to mate me with this girl?’_

No, I decided, he would have shown me some proof of another, and I hadn’t heard of any of the girls going missing before my own capture. I also doubted this girl was the one Pal had been referring to, he seemed to care for her.

As I thought about this I suddenly realized that Saphira was looking at me. Sweat beaded her forehead, and I could faintly hear the chains attached to her ankles rattling as her body shook. Oh, the fear in her eyes, it was so delicious.

“You’re doing very good so far, Saphira,” I commented, giving her a reassuring smile. “I’m almost done, I have just one more question. Think you can handle that?” Shaking, she gave a nod, and I smiled at her softly. “Good. Now then... Is there anyone else here?”


	4. Interrogation Part three

At this question the girl’s body spasmed again, her eyes widening. Her silence was answer enough: no, we were alone. However, I still wanted her to say it herself, so I pressed, “Well?”

“...Not anymore,” She answered, her voice barely audible and cracking. There was no one else here. No one around to save her except Pal, who was now a corpse. Poor, poor little girl, all alone in the middle of nowhere with a monster. She knew admitting it would seal her fate, confirming that there was no one who could save her or harm me, and I knew it too.

There was no color in her face, so filled with fear that she didn’t even shake anymore. She looked up at me and it clicked what color they were. They were a seemingly impossible heterochromia. A deep, rich onyx skirted her iris, and as it fell inward became a cool sapphire, then to emerald, and amber, and ruby, rich and dark as blood. Finally fading into a deep shade of amethyst. The impossible colors swirled around her pupil in a whirlpool of priceless stones.

I had never seen eyes like her’s and I imagine I never will. She was waiting for more questions, I could feel it. However, I was satisfied for the time being.

“That should do for now,” I said, replacing my mask over the lower half of my face. No need to intimidate her anymore, I could cover my teeth. “Would you like any food?” The question caught her by surprise, blinking at me a few times. “Would. You. Like. Any. Food?” I repeated the offer slowly, placing emphasis on each word. She just stared at me, clearly in shock at the offer.

“Sure,” She muttered, color slowly returning to her face.

“Fine. I’ll be back in a little bit,” I walked towards the stairs and paused, glancing back at her. “Oh, and Saphira?” Her eyes were being drawn to the window one more.

“Yeah?”

“Don’t go anywhere,” With that I disappeared down the stairs and headed for the kitchen, smirking to myself.

 

~Saphira~

Jack disappeared down the stairs and I carefully and quickly got out of bed, headed towards the window. The chain was long enough to allow me to sit comfortably on the window sill, though the leg that the chain was attached to had to be extended back towards the bed. I stared out into the forest, listening fearfully for the sound of the trucks coming.

After a time I heard Jack come back up and stop when he saw where I was sitting. I glanced over at him seeing a sandwich with a large slab of beef on it and a glass of water. My stomach growled at the sight of the meat and my mouth waters.

“You shouldn’t be out of bed,” This sounded less like an angry captor and more like a disapproving doctor. With one last look out the window I got up and sat cross legged on the bed. Jack held out the plate and cup for me to take. I hungrily took them placing the cup in my lap, leaning slightly against my leg. I took a big bite out of the sandwich, savoring the flavor of the meat.

I could feel Jack’s eyes on me as I wolfed down the sandwich and chugged the water, giving fewer shits if it would kill me. Death would be a mercy to what had nearly happened earlier in the day, not that I knew what that was. Something in my gut told me that a painful death was better than those men’s intentions.

My mind wandered to Jack’s diet, if he ate organs… what had he been eating before? My mind flicked back to Pal’s supply runs, the gun he thought I didn’t know was under the back seat. The foul smelling cooler in the bed of the truck, he was so wrapped up in making sure I didn’t know about them that he hadn’t noticed that I had been stashing things in the truck for weeks.

I slowly looked down at the now empty plate and cup sitting in my lap. Pal was killing people for their organs to feed Jack. This realization didn’t bother me as much as it probably should have.

“What’s your password?” I looked up at him in confusion. “For your laptop,”

“Oh um… DaisyAdair,”

“DaisyAdair?” He repeated confused.

“Yeah, it was my mom’s name,” I said looking towards the window once more. I hear him walk downstairs, taking the plate and glass with him.

 

~Jack~

“Come on...” I muttered as I hunched over the laptop, typing ‘DaisyAdair’ in the password prompt. Pressing ‘enter’, the login box transformed into a loading bar and the desktop appeared on the screen, making me grin.

“ _Finally,”_ I went straight to the browser, quickly going to a search engine and entering “forests near Drisking” into the search bar. Several results popped up, and I checked the first few links before determining our basic location. It didn’t take long to figure out exactly where we were using the address on the mail as a point of reference, and I found a few road maps and printed them off before sitting down at the kitchen counter.

I uncapped a marker and poured over them for a few minutes, first marking our current location and then several other landmarks. Returning to the laptop to search some more stuff, I waited until night fell before closing it and stuffing it into a case, walking to Saphira’s room and startled her out of her thoughts. She was back at the window, eyes fixed on the forest outside. She looked up at me in surprise, her eyes held fear in them that dulled a bit when she saw it was me.

“Don’t make any sudden movements,” I warned as I yanked her up and sitting her back on her bed. Her body tensed as I removed a key from my hoodie and unlocked the shackle on her ankle, freeing it. Tossing a duffel bag at her feet, I continued, “Gather some clothes, only the essentials,” Flipping the scalpel into my hand, I added ominously, “ _And don’t try anything,”_

She stared at the shiny metal tool wide-eyed before quickly scrambling off the bed and going to her dresser, trying to keep her pace slow to avoid agitating me. I couldn’t help smiling as I watched her movements, savoring her obvious fear. I watched closely as she opened the drawers and began pulling things out, scrutinizing each article of clothing from where I stood to make sure she didn’t try to sneakily insert a weapon. Soon the bag was full and she stopped, standing awkwardly. I pointed to the bed.

“Sit,” Obediently she sat on the mattress, and her eyes widened as I produced a roll of duct tape from my pockets, pulling the end as I slowly approached her. She bit her lip, eyes watering.

“P-please don’t,” She stuttered, this was the first time she had stuttered. I ignored her tears and pleads as I taped her wrists together in front of her.

 

~Saphira~

Shakily I walked through the house, prodded forward by the tip of the scalpel poking into my back. I had no doubts that he could easily slit my throat in a moment’s notice. My wrists were bound in front of me, and with each step I could hear the jingling of the shackles stuffed into the duffel bag carrying my clothes that Jack currently carried slung over his shoulder, making my muscles tense. I was not very comfortable with the situation, for rather obvious reasons.

As we passed through the living room area I caught a glimpse of red and turned my head slightly to catch sight of Pal’s legs. For a second I thought I saw something pale and stringy on one of his legs, but before I could get a good look Jack prodded my back a little with the scalpel and hissed, “ _Keep going,”_

I obeyed, quickly turning away and walking forward. We ended up at the front door, and he removed the scalpel from my back in order to open it. I caught my breath as I saw the splatters of dried blood leading from the truck, my eyes widening and a sob catching in the back of my throat. Impatient, Jack grabbed my arm and dragged me along the bloody trail towards the car, but I dug my heels in as my shock collar began beeping.

“N-No, I can’t go any further!” I pleaded finding we were an even match in strength at the moment.

“Saphira…” Jack growled trying to pull me through the gate. He jerked my arm and I fell forward and out the gate. Almost immediately I felt the collar activated sending electricity through my body. I writhed, clawing at the collar trying to get the nodes off my neck. Then all at once Jack was on top of me with the collar in his hand panting.

“What. The. Fuck?” He panted looking down at me. I stared up at him panting wordlessly, trying to get my heart rate to slow.

“Sleep... Walk...Woods...” I choked out, my voice cracking at the pain in my neck. Jack pulled me up and pulled me the rest of the way to the truck. He flung the passenger door open and forced me inside.

“Don’t move,” he ordered, slamming the door, and returned to the house. I felt nothing as I stared at the driver’s seat, traces of a large dark brown ring visible around the dip in the cushion. Obviously it had been cleaned recently, but not completely. I imagined Pal sitting there, his own blood pooling around him. I pulled the sun visor down and look in the mirror at my neck. There were two bright red marks where the collar had administered its shock.

I was still staring at it when the door suddenly opened and Jack climbed in, sitting down on top of the ring. He was carrying my laptop case and some papers, and tossed the case into the back, making me cringe slightly. Terrified for my life or not, my laptop was still precious to me. Suddenly he reached towards me and I winced, squeezing my eyes shut, only for him to grab the seat belt on my opposite side and buckle me in. So the organ-eating monster cares about driving safety. Swell. He buckled himself in before turning the blood-covered key in the ignition.

As the truck hummed and vibrated I turned to look at my house, I was finally getting away from Drisking. It had been my entire world, Pal the only thing keeping me safe, and now... I was leaving. Forever. As we drove away I leaned forward and tried to open the glove box. After a moment I leaned back and brought my heels down on the latch a few times, the glove box finally dropping open.

 

~Jack~

As we pulled away Saphira started kicking the glove box. I cast her a glance out of the corner of my socket before focusing on the road once more. I didn’t bother telling her to behave, I knew there was no point. This would be a stressful situation for anyone, and a lot had happened to her over the past two days. Her entire life had been shattered overnight, quite literally. So, I let her kick the glove box, and it dropped open, allowing her to pull a book out. She opened it up and began reading. I didn’t say a single word and just focused on the road.

I felt a strange pang of remorse as I drove though, and my grip tightened around the steering wheel. ‘ _Focus, Jack,’_ I told myself. It had been years since I’d last touched the wheel of a car and we had a long drive ahead of us.

It was time to get out of this hellhole.


	5. Kidnapped

_Darkness blanketed Jack as he lay curled in the bed of the truck, lights and colors dancing across his blurry vision. Jack’s hands and legs were bound with duct tape, his mouth as well, but he was too weak to struggle, too tired... His lids fluttered as he rested his empty eyes, his already groggy mind lulled by the rhythmic sound of the tires running over the pavement. ‘So tired... So sleepy... I’ll just escape in the morning…’_

 

~Jack~

The moon was starting to dip in the sky a bit as the truck drove over the mulch and stone littered ground, the bumpy ride making Saphira grunt and stir a bit. After reading for the better part of an hour she’d eventually fallen asleep, leaving the rest of the drive in silence. The drive had gone smoothly, and I had only had to pull over once to consult a map. I glanced at Saphira as her eyes fluttered open and she stared out the window at the woods, her gaze somewhat vacant and empty.

“Where are we...?” She mumbled groggily, yawning.

“Home,” I said simply as the truck pulled to a stop and I turned it off. She blinked at me a few times before her eyes grew wide, snapping her head forward. Before us was an old wooden cabin, the dark windows offering no glimpse of the abyss beyond. I exited the car as she stared at it in shock, circling to the passenger side and opening the door.

“After you,” I told her, giving her a small exaggerated bow. Saphira just stared at me dumbly, looking like a deer caught in headlights. After a moment I sighed and unbuckled her seatbelt, gently tugging on her arm. Obediently she climbed out, and followed me to the front door.

Turning the handle and pulling, I frowned as the door stubbornly refused to open and gave it a hard yank, forcing it to open with a loud creak that made both of us cringe. I made a mental note to oil the hinges as I ushered her inside, groping blindly at the wall for the light switch and flipping it.

Dim, flickering light filled the room, revealing a bare entryway that opened into a larger room with a couch, an old TV, and a coffee table. There was a kitchenette off to the side, with a wooden table and some chairs. Everything was coated in a layer dust, the particles visible floating in the air in the dim beams of light.

“Come on,” I said, grabbing Saphira by the arm again and pulling her to a small hallway with three doors. We passed two doors before I stopped and pushed one open, flipping another light switch to reveal a small room completely empty save for a bed, a nightstand and a dresser. Saphira just stood in the corner as I walked to the bed, giving it a pat. Clouds of dust rose and I coughed, lifting my mask to cover my mouth with a frown. We’d have to clean everything later.

“Sit,” I ordered, and she obediently sat on the bed. I pulled out my scalpel and she winced as I grabbed her by the wrists, but I just slid the blade under the tape and flicked my wrist upward, smoothly severing the bonds. “Stay,” Receiving a nod, I left and closed the door, confident she wouldn’t try to leave. Crossing the thin hall to the bathroom, I turned on the sink to test if the water was still running before going outside to retrieve the duffel bag from the truck.

Saphira was still sitting on the bed when I returned, eyes trained on the forest outside the window. I tossed the bag onto the bed next to her and unzipped it, removing the metal shackles and stuffing them into the pocket of my hoodie.

“Unpack,” I commanded, and waited for her to start before I left, closing the door behind me and locking it. Walking into the main part of the cabin, I removed my mask and set it on the table, inhaling the musty scent of the room. A smile played across my lips as I looked around, filled with contentment. It had been some time since I’d last been home, and I had never realized how much I’d missed it.

After a few minutes of savoring my surroundings, I ended my reverie and walked to a closet to retrieve my cleaning supplies. I had a lot of work to do.

 

~Saphira~

I absentmindedly folded my clothes and placed them in the dresser, noting all of the dust coating the insides of the drawers. Hopefully my clothes wouldn’t get too dirty, I thought. Then I stopped, realizing just how trivial that worry was. I’ve been kidnapped by a cannibalistic monster, I was being hunted, and I’m worried about getting dust on my clothes? I’d probably laugh if I weren’t so terrified for my life.

This place was so different from my room, from my house. It felt so... empty, so... dead. Was it just because Jack hadn’t been here in awhile? I didn’t know, but I secretly hoped so, because I had a feeling I wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon—if ever, I thought.

Lifting one of my shirts, my breath caught in my throat as I glimpsed the violin case carefully hidden beneath it. I’d grabbed it on an impulse while packing and didn’t know if Jack had seen me pack it. If he had, he didn’t seem to care. Tucked under the violin was a blurry photo of a man and a woman. I tucked it into the wood of the window pane, and just stared at it trying to make out the details for what must’ve been the hundredth time.

How well did I really know Pal? How much did he really, actually love me? And why was he keeping me safe?

_“Pal?” Saphira cried as she helped him inside. “What happened, Pal?” His head bowed, he mumbled something, too quiet for her to hear. “P-Pal! I... I can’t hear you...!”_

_“...gans...eed...”_

_“What?” She pressed, blinking back tears as she tried to steady her voice enough to speak. “What is it? I... I can’t hear you...” He raised his head to look at her, and Saphira froze as she saw the manic look in his eyes._

_“Need... organs!” He yelled, and suddenly she felt a sharp pain in her side._


	6. Day 1

The sun was high in the sky when I awoke, grunting groggily as I rolled over. Yawning, I glanced around my surroundings in faint confusion. This wasn’t my bedroom... Puzzling over it, I froze mid eye-rub as everything abruptly rushed back to me.

Jack.

Jack had kidnapped me, taking me to his house. Tensing, I quietly pulled the covers over me and rolled over to face the wall. Right now I wanted to go to sleep and enter a completely unrelated nightmare. Of course, though, I had no such luck.

I heard the tumbling of a lock being undone followed by the door opening as Jack entered. Quickly I closed my eyes, pretending to be asleep.

“I know you awake,”

” _Darn,”_ I thought as I sat up groggily, rubbing my eyes. He threw something at me and I reflexively caught it, glancing at it curiously to see it was a rag.

“Clean the furniture,” he told me. Sighing, I swung my legs over the side of the bed and stretched a bit, while he stripped the dusty sheets off the bed. My pajamas had a bit of dust on them from sleeping on the covers, and Jack gave a sigh as he shook his head at it. I shrugged it off as I began rubbing down the dresser as ordered.

Within half an hour the bedroom was dust-free and the bed had new, clean sheets. As I wiped the sweat off my forehead, Jack grabbed me by the wrist, causing me yelp.

“Get clothes,” he ordered, and once I did he dragged me across the hallway to a small bathroom, forcing me inside and closing the door. There were already towels set out, along with the shampoo and conditioner bottles from my bathroom back at home. As I stared, I heard his voice from the other side of the door.

“Take a shower. Remove the bandages and call me when you’re done so I can give you new ones,” Without waiting for my response I heard his footsteps fade away to other parts of the cabin.

Obediently I turned on the water, stripping out of my dusty pajamas. Hesitantly I started to unwrap the bandages, grimacing as the scar left on my side came into sight. It wasn’t pretty, with lots of dried blood crusted along the stitches. It stung sharply when I stepped under the water, but it didn’t hurt nearly as bad as I expected. I kept the shower as brief as possible, focusing on getting rid of the dust. I almost skipped the shampoo and conditioner, but decided to do it at the last second because I didn’t know when I’d have a shower again—or if I would at all. Once I finished, I toweled myself off and quickly put on my pants and a bra.

At that point I hesitantly knocked on the door, calling, “Done,” A few moments passed and I heard footsteps approach, the door opening to reveal Jack standing mere inches away from me. I jumped back in surprise before he grabbed me by the arm yet again, dragging me back across the hallway to the bedroom and sitting me on the edge of the bed. There was already some kind of first aid kit waiting on the mattress, and he quickly pulled out a cotton wipe and some spray so he could wipe the cut with disinfectant.

Instantly it stung and I grimaced, but strangely enough I think I felt more embarrassed than anything. Monster or not, he was still a male and I was a half-naked girl. Looking back, he’d probably seen me naked already when he applied the bandages the first time around and put me in my pajamas. That thought was not reassuring. However, from what I could tell so far he probably saw me more as a pet than a girl. I didn’t know if that made it better or worse, so I decided to stop thinking about it.

Once the bandages were applied and I’d pulled on my shirt, he grabbed the shackle and I went pale.

“What are you doing?” I whispered, my eyes fixed on the restraint.

“Chaining you to the bed,” he replied plainly as he grabbed my right foot. I struggled a bit but he just squeezed the joint and I stopped, the pain shooting through my ankle. He took advantage of my stillness to quickly close the shackle and lock it, attaching the other end to the bedpost. With this, I was stuck. Unlike the one back at home, this one had a much longer chain that would allow me to walk around the room, and probably across the hall, but it still wasn’t much of a comfort.

“...If you’re worried I’ll escape, I won’t,” I muttered, pulling my knees to my chest as I stared at him. “I don’t have anywhere to go,”

“People do crazy things when they’re desperate,” He countered as he walked to the door. “Want lunch?” I didn’t reply right away, just staring at him.

“...Why?”

“Because you need to eat,”

“No, why haven’t you killed me? Why did you bring me here?” The questions were dreaded, but I needed to ask them anyway. Jack paused in the doorway, turning to glance back at me. I couldn’t read his face behind that mask, but I stared at his eye holes anyway, hoping that maybe I could somehow catch a glimpse of his eyes. After a few moments, he broke his gaze and left without a word, not bothering to close the door.

 

~Jack~

Why hadn’t I killed Saphira? That was a good question, I thought as I raided the fridge for ingredients stolen from her house to make a sandwich. Logically, it would be much easier and better to just kill her and eat her organs, especially in my current weakened state. Reflecting on it, I decided it was mostly because in my eyes, she was still my savior. That alone was reason enough not kill her, even if she was that man’s daughter... niece... hmm... Was she adopted? That’s what she’d made it sound like. Anyway, it didn’t matter. She was a victim of that man too.

However, that still didn’t explain why I’d brought her here. Her status as my “savior” was reason enough to not kill her, and also to bandage that wound, but not enough to kidnap her. I was still pondering this as I returned to her bedroom with the sandwich in hand, setting it in front of her. She took a bite, staring out into the window. After a few seconds she began to pick the sandwich apart, eating small chunks of just meat or just bread.

I leaned against the wall and crossed my arms as I watched silently, eying her every movement as I tried to discern what compelled me to bring her to my home. As Saphira ate she continued staring out the window. Why did she keep doing that? It was starting to get unnerving. It was like she was searching for a monster lurking among the trees.

Finally she finished and set the plate down on the nightstand, and sat in silence for a few moments. I continued to stare at her silently, and she bit her lip as she twiddled her thumbs before finally glancing at me out of the corner of her eye.

“W... Well...?” she mumbled.

“Well, what?” I asked, tilting his head curiously, and she took a deep breath.

“Why haven’t you killed me? Why am I here?” So she was still thinking about that too, huh? At first I said nothing, continuing to stare her down in silence.

Then I lunged at her.


	7. Fear is fun

Before Saphira could even blink I had her pinned to the bed with her hands above her head, hovering just above her to avoid putting my full weight on her wound. It was so sudden she just stared at me dumbfounded for a few moments, her eyes slowly widening as the situation sunk in.

I chuckled as she started squirming, but I kept my grip on her wrists firm. I released one hand to tilt my mask, revealing a razor-sharp smirk. Earlier I’d shown her my mouth to intimidate her for interrogation purposes, but this time was for pure pleasure

“To be honest, I’m not sure why I brought you here,” I admitted, chuckling darkly. “It would have made more sense to leave you to die,” Her eyes widened at this admission, and her struggling began anew. A silent question was written on her face: “ _If he doesn’t know, then what’s stopping him from killing me now?”_

In actuality, I’d already figured out why I hadn’t killed her—she’d saved me—but I wouldn’t say that just yet. No, I’d let her fear grow so I could savor it

I raised my hand to my mouth, tugging off the glove with my teeth and tossing it on the nightstand. Tracing her jawline with my fingertip, I savored the shudder she gave as my nail/claw brushed against her skin. I kept my motions gentle, though, never applying enough pressure to break skin. Hurting her wasn’t my intention; I just wanted to enjoy her fear. And wow, were her multicolored eyes lovely when full of terror. I brushed a strand of raven hair out of her face so I could enjoy her terrified expression more fully

“I’ve been trying to think of why, too, but I can’t understand it yet,” My finger lightly traced down her chin and neck, coming to a stop above her heart. I could feel her pulse quicken under my fingertip, making me smile. “Perhaps... I want to save you to eat?” Her heartbeat came to a sudden stop. A glance at her face revealed a very nice expression filled with sheer terror.

‘ _Wonderful,’_ I thought, inhaling the sweet scent of fear. _‘Lovely, truly lovely.’_

“Nothing fatal, I wouldn’t want to kill you... But maybe a kidney, a little bite of your liver... You don’t need your appendix, do you?” I chuckled as I said this. “Actually, you might be better off without it. It doesn’t really have a purpose anymore, just gives you the risk of appendicitis...”

Abruptly her heart slowed to normal, surprising me, and I quickly looked at her face once more. Her eyes were large and vacant, like she had mentally checked out. I frowned slightly upon seeing it. While I’d wanted to scare her, the look in her eyes at this moment was more than I’d expected. Had I gone too far?

I reached up to brush a single tear away and she winced at my touch, visibly fighting off the urge to sob, confirming my suspicions. That wasn’t good, I didn’t want to scare her TOO much. Frowning, I began backtracking carefully.

“Please relax,” I told her, keeping my voice soft and soothing. “I was just kidding. I’m sorry, I went too far. I have no intentions of killing you, or eating any part of you. As I told you yesterday, if I wanted to kill you, I would have done so by now,” Saphira still trembled as she stared at me, but she seemed to collect herself enough to swallow and open her mouth, whispering softly.

“Th-... Why haven’t you?” She asked, her voice soft and shaky. She had almost said something else, but changed her mind. I rubbed my chin thoughtfully, and then tilted my head at her with a small smile.

“Perhaps it’s because... I want to keep you as a pet?” It was phrased as if it were a question, a suggestion, but now that I said it out loud it made perfect sense to me. “Yes... I believe that’s exactly why,” Saphira’s guardian, “Pal”, had kept me as a “pet” for several months, and I felt it was only fair to keep his daughter as a “pet” for myself. This answer seem to calm Saphira, but it still seemed to shock her. Staring at me wide-eyed, her shaking had ceased and I loosened my grip on her wrists, and after a few moments I released them entirely.

I shifted his body so I was no longer hovering on top of her, instead sitting upright next to her. She didn’t move right away, continuing to stare at the ceiling, but soon enough she slowly sat up too, hugging herself tightly and keeping her gaze cast downward. Neither of us spoke, not looking at each other. Finally I rose and stretched, grabbing my glove from the nightstand and pulling it back on before fixing my mask. The time for intimidation was now over.

“...Come on,” I told Saphira, extending a hand towards her. She took my hand hesitantly and I guided her towards the door.

 

~Saphira~

My mind was racing as I sat on the bed, my nails digging into my arms as I tried to keep myself calm. So much fear had been surging through me the entire time, fragmented memories had flashed before my eyes at least four separate times. Something in them filled me with terror. I had no idea what Jack’s intentions were, even after he’d told me, but something in my gut told me that there was a worse fate waiting for me outside the cabin’s walls. And a pet? What did he mean by that? I wasn’t sure I wanted to know, but at the same time I didn’t really have a choice.

I was so lost in thought I didn’t notice Jack get up.

“...Come on,” He said, holding his hand towards me. I took it slowly and he led me in the direction or the door. I didn’t try to fight it, deciding that ever was on his mind would turn out how it was destined to. I just let him lead me into the hallway.

Swallowing, I asked, “Where are we going?”

“No where,” He replied plainly, leading me to the bathroom. He stopped as he opened the door and gave me a small push, making me stumble into the small room. Catching myself, I turned to look at him and yelped as I saw him start to close the door behind me, a million concerns running through my head at once.

“What are you doing?!” I gasped, beginning to panic only to freeze as it stopped in place with a clanking sound, leaving a gap of a few inches. Jack’s head was tilted towards the ground, and my eyes followed it to see several metal chain links snaking through the gap. It took a few moments for it to register exactly what I was looking at: the chain. I’d forgotten about the shackle he’d snapped around my ankle earlier, and sure enough a glance at my feet revealed the chain to be connected to the metal cuff.

As I stared at it dumbly Jack opened the door and walked inside, bending down to lift the chain a bit as he studied the length. “...Should be long enough,” he murmured, letting it fall with a clank, and then grabbed my hand again and guided me back into the hallway. This time he turned and led me towards the main portion of the cabin, but a few feet from the end the chain caught. I nearly stumbled as my foot was jerked, but Jack quickly caught me by the shoulders. He carefully straightened me in place before circling me and lifting the chain once more, making the attached ankle rise with it. “...So that’s the limit...”

I stared at him silently, unsure if I should speak, or even what I would say if I did. Obviously he was checking the chain’s length. It seemed I’d be able to go to the bathroom, though I wouldn’t be able to close it all the way. However, the fact he was checking the chain at all concerned me a bit. If he was making sure I could still do that, then that meant he probably planned for me to wear it for a long time. I bit my lip as I thought about it.


	8. The Routine and Training

After our little “chat”, Jack left me alone for the majority of the day. I think he actually felt kind of bad, if such a thing were possible. He avoided the bedroom and just left sandwiches for me outside my door. The only times I saw him were when I went into the hall to reach the bathroom, at which point I could see him sitting on the couch messing with my laptop. Based on his mumbling, I assumed he was having trouble doing whatever he wanted, but he didn’t come to me for help. 

The next day wasn’t much different. I slept in until the afternoon and found myself bored with little to keep myself occupied. A little bit before sunset I was staring at the ceiling when an awful stench drifted through the door. I gagged and ran to the dresser, grabbing a shirt and wrapping it around my mouth like a bandana. Standing near the door, I grappled with myself and ultimately stepped into the hallway, walking as far as the chain would let me to peek into the main area of the house. Jack was in front of the fridge, stuffing something into a black trash bag.

“What is that?” I gasped, gagging at the smell.

“Rotten food,” he replied plainly. Rotten food? What kind of food smells like—wait... My face quickly drained of color. Organs. That’s what he said he ate.

“...How long has it been in there?”

“...I don’t know,” I cast him a curious glance only to quickly turn back as I glimpsed something yellow in his hands, throwing a hand to my mouth to resist the urge to vomit. I scurried back into the bedroom and slammed the door, tossing aside the shirt and coughing. I was not in the mood to vomit again.

Shortly after this Jack knocked on the door. “It’s gone,” he called. When I didn’t answer, he continued. “Organs have short shelf lives if not preserved properly. Usually I eat them before they rot like that, so it shouldn’t happen again,” Was that supposed to make me feel better? I opened my mouth to speak but had to quickly close it as I felt something start to rise in my throat.

“Water,” I whispered, and his footsteps quickly disappeared before he returned with a tall glass of crystal clear liquid. I snatched it from his hand and downed it quickly, swallowing the bile fighting to escape. Once I finished I handed the glass to him and mumbled a soft, “Thanks,” He took the glass and looked at me silently for a moment.

“I’m going out,” he declared. “I’ll be back later,” I almost asked where he was going but quickly decided against it. I had a pretty good idea of what he was planning to do anyway. “Don’t try anything while I’m gone,” I nodded.

“I won’t,” I promised. Not much I could do, with this chain and all. I’d probably just sleep, since I didn’t have much else to do and I’d feel safer with him gone. Jack seemed content with my promise and left the room with the glass, only to pause and glance at me.

“Oh, and keep your ears open while I’m gone. Some of my friends might stop by. I’ll leave a note, but stay alert anyway,” He then closed the door before I could respond.

 _‘No they won’t,’_ I thought wryly. _‘You’ve been gone too long.’_

 

~Jack~

I swiped my scalpel at the dummy hanging from the tree, slashing its side open. My skills WERE rusty, I noted sullenly. Too many misses. If this were a real person, about fifty percent of the time they’d still be able to move and fight back, and I wouldn’t even be able to get an organ. Tonight I’d probably have to slit my prey’s throats before taking their kidneys and other organs to ensure safe removal, a thought that made me relatively depressed. Killing didn’t really bother me, but usually I preferred to do it only if the person woke up. Then again, I kind of needed to this time. I needed to get my strength back.

Casting a glance at the setting sun, I sighed as I pocketed the scalpel and sat against the tree. That was enough practice for now, I’d take a little break before scouting for some prey. For the time being my thoughts wandered back to Saphira. The chain guaranteed she wouldn’t be able to leave, but still, I worried for my little “pet”. Desperate people would do desperate things. I’d made sure to keep any sharp objects out of her reach—I’d even removed the bathroom mirror—but now I wondered if I should have taken that violin case, too.

I had seen her pack it when we were leaving, but hadn’t said anything at the time. It was only a violin, I’d reasoned; might as well let her have one keepsake of her old life.

_He was roused from his sleep by a stick prodding his side, slowly lifting his masked face to see his captor grinning at him._

_“Mealtime,” the man announced, reaching out and removing Jack’s mask. As soon as it lifted Jack shot his head forward, trying to bite his wrists, but the man was too fast and easily avoided it. “Woah, there, if you do that then I might not give you any food,” Jack glared at him, a red light glowing in his empty eye sockets, but then gave a sigh and hung his head as the man extended a stick with a kidney skewered on the end._

How long had time passed like that? How long had I been held prisoner in that basement, my will gradually waning? The sparkle in that man’s eyes, the wicked gleam in his smile... That man was not sane. Just thinking about it made me utter a low growl, scowling at the world around me. Time was a bit inconsequential to me—I wasn’t human, I only had to focus on surviving—but for once it really irked me. That time was completely lost to me, spent rotting away in a basement. My biggest regret was that I couldn’t be the one to kill that guy, but I couldn’t change that.

Clenching my fists, I rose and cracked my neck. I’d been sitting for long enough. I took off through the woods towards civilization. Time to find a target. 


	9. Pet Things

_“Hush little baby, don’t say a word... Momma’s gonna buy you a mockingbird...”_

I need to scream.

_“And if that mockingbird won’t sing... Momma’s gonna buy you a diamond ring...”_

I need to hear.

_“And if that diamond ring turns brass... Momma’s gonna buy you a looking glass...”_

I need to see.

_“And if that looking glass gets broke... Momma’s gonna buy you a billy goat...”_

I need to eat.

_“And if that billy goat won’t pull... Momma’s gonna buy you a cart and bull...”_

I need to run.

_“And if that cart and bull turn over... Momma’s gonna buy you a dog named Rover...”_

I need to move.

_“And if that dog named Rover won’t bark... Momma’s gonna buy you a horse and cart...”_

I need to escape.

_“And if that horse and cart fall down... You’ll still be the cutest baby in this town,”_

_Darkness surrounded him as he struggled. No sight, no sound, no smell, no voice, no movement. He existed in a void, all alone, completely cut off from reality. And yet he could still feel the song. It rang through his head over and over, a hallucination that would not leave. It was driving him insane, to the point of tears, but it was all he had. He hummed it even though he could not hear it, desperately clinging to reality through the unheard song._

_Suddenly something brushed against him, and the pressure released on his ears._

_“Tell me, have you learned your lesson?” A menacing voice asked next to his ear, dripping with sadistic delight. A shudder ran down his spine as he felt spit brush against his ear, making him flinch and draw away, but a hand quickly grabbed his jaw and forced his head back into its original position. “Come now, my little pet, don’t be shy...”_

‘Let me go!’

_“You had no trouble earlier when you bit me,”_

‘Leave me alone!’

_“Where’s that fighting spirit you had earlier?”_

‘I can’t take it anymore!’

_“Could it... be you’re scared?”_

_The last word was hissed into his ear, and his shoulders fell, his entire body going limp. A chill ran down his spine. Scared. Yes, he WAS scared. He couldn’t take it anymore! He needed out! Let me go, let me go, LET ME GO!_

 

~Jack~

I gasped as my eyelids flew open, a cold sweat dripping down my face. For a moment I panicked as I felt something wrapped around me, and I yelped and threw them off before realizing what they were: blankets. I was in my bed, safe at home.

It was just a dream.

Shuddering, I slowly shifted in the bed and sat up, rubbing my empty eyes as I looked around. Sunlight peeked through the slits in the curtains, and I rose and shuffled to the window to close them before sighing.

A nightmare, that’s all it was. It was all over now, I was safe.

 

~*~

I frowned as I pulled the plate from the microwave. Most human food was off-putting to me, but my latest concoction seemed particularly nauseous. Blackened pieces of cereal melded together on the plate, forming a giant charred lump. My nose wrinkled at the disgusting scent it omitted and for a brief moment I regretted taking off my mask while cooking. Wordlessly I took it to the trash can and flipped it over, but the lump remained attached to the plate, ultimately forcing me to scrape it off with a fork. Yet another cooking failure

Seven days had passed since I escape from captivity. During that time, my new “pet” seemed to be adjusting rather well to her new life. We didn’t interact much beyond bringing her meals, though there were two more occasions where I’d scared her for my own amusement as I had on the first day. Overall, she tended to be very obedient and quiet, never arguing with me or trying to fight. I had taught her how to change her bandages on her own, and even started removing the chain from her ankle while I was at home, though I’d always replace it before leaving for the evening. Usually she mostly sat in the hall or looking out a window.

Today I wanted to reward her obedience by making something different for her breakfast. However, my attempt to make cereal had failed miserably. Sandwiches seemed to be the only thing I could make. It must be boring for her to eat the same thing day in and day out, I thought. At least she was fed every day, though. During my own captivity, there were times when days would pass without a single bite to eat. While the food I required wasn’t necessarily easy to obtain, sometimes it was withheld deliberately as a punishment. My mind wandered back to my dream the previous night, making me shudder.

Enough thinking about that. Noting that the sound of water pounding against the ceramic tiles had stopped, I casually pulled on my mask before rummaging through the fridge for ingredients. I was debating how long I should put the sandwich in the microwave when I heard a door open, footsteps sprinting across the hallway before another door slammed. A few minutes later I went to her bedroom with the finished sandwich and a canvas bag slung over my shoulder, knocking on the door. While I’d enter regardless of her wishes, I still felt it was polite to give her a warning. Human girls were so conscious about their bodies.

“Come in,” Saphira called, and I silently opened the door and entered. She was sitting on her bed wearing a purple t-shirt with black sweatpants, her skin and hair still damp. Regarding me warily, her gaze fell upon the the canvas bag and she raised her eyebrow, a spark of fear dancing in her eyes, making me chuckle internally. Her multicolored eyes were particularly lovely when they were full of fear. I set the plate on her nightstand, knowing she wouldn’t eat until she saw the contents of the bag. No doubt she thought it was full of torture tools.

Suspicion and wariness filled her gaze as she watched me set the bag on the dresser, slowly opening it. I took my sweet time as I reached inside the bag, giving her plenty of time for her imagination to conjure the worst possible scenarios. Watching her expression was so amusing, especially how she sucked in her breath when I finally pulled something out. My absolute favorite part, though, was the look of pure confusion and relief that filled her face when I pulled out a novel.

I nonchalantly removed several books and magazines from the bag, stacking them on the dresser.

“...What are those?” She asked suspiciously.

“Reading material,” I replied casually

“...Why...?”

“So you won’t get bored,” My nightmare had reminded me of how bored I’d been during my own captivity. The human mind could only be idle for so long, and I didn’t exactly want her going insane. Silence fell over us, and I smirked. Relaxing, Saphira began eating her sandwich. I took the opportunity to walk over and smell the lilac scent wafting from her still-damp hair. She flinched as I began stroking it, nearly dropping her sandwich.

“What are you doing?”

“It’s normal to pet one’s pet,” I replied simply, sitting on the bed behind her. “Don’t turn,” With a roll of her eyes she seemed to focus on her thoughts, and I lifted his mask to expose me mouth and nose. Contentment filled me as I inhaled the heavenly lilac aroma, my eyelids fluttering closed as I gave a soft sigh. I could feel Saphira shift as I gently ran my fingers through her hair, seeming to relax slightly into my touch.

After a few minutes of this I stopped and pulled my mask back down, rising from the bed and stretching. Wordlessly I walked to the door, glancing back from the doorway to see her staring at me. Puzzlement filled her face as she stared at me, making me smile to myself as I left. That expression might actually be prettier than when she was afraid. 


	10. Cereal

I stood in front of my dresser, staring at my reflection in the mirror. Zipping up my hoodie over my navy blue t-shirt, I quickly pulled up my hood. Carefully I tucked a few stray strands of ash brown hair into my hood before tugging on my gloves, giving them a couple test flexes to make sure they were on properly. Finished, I studied my reflection in the mirror and nodded approvingly. At this point the only visible skin was around my neck, hidden in the shadows of my hood, but no one would notice it. They’d be too distracted by my navy blue mask, the only splash of color in my otherwise black appearance.

Satisfied with my intimidating appearance, I headed to the kitchen to grab the plate with a pre-prepared sandwich and headed to Saphira’s room.

 

~Saphira~

After a few days of living under Jack’s roof, I had settled into my new life as his “pet,” I still wasn’t entirely sure what being his pet meant, but so far it mostly included me staring out the windows less and less, read, writing, and him scaring me for his own amusement. After a certain point he started removing the chain during the hours he was home, much to my relief. However, he’d always replace it before leaving to hunt at dusk. Sometimes he’d be gone for only one or two hours, and others he’d return just before dawn. During that time I’d stay awake in my room, playing my violin, reading, and picking at my skin.

We didn’t really talk too much; I noticed that he was at his most talkative when trying to scare or intimidate me. After the third time, I’d realized that those little “sessions” were usually spawned by me asking a question about his past, so I spoke less to him. Otherwise, though, his behavior was largely unpredictable. One day he’d be scaring me, the next he was petting me and giving me a bunch of books. Not that I was complaining about the kindness, but it was so unexpected that it scared me a bit.

Two days after receiving the books, I sat in my bedroom reading a horror novel when the door opened. Usually he only knocked right after I took a shower, so I tried not to lounge around in my underwear too much. When he entered I immediately noticed Jack’s hood was up, something he only did when he was going out, and a glance at the window revealed the daylight to be fading.

 _‘Guess it’s time for the chain to come on,’_ I thought nonchalantly. Before Pal had purchased the shock collar, we had used handcuffs and the like to keep me in the house.

I sat upright and extended my ankle so Jack could slide the shackle around it. As he moved to do so he paused, tilting his head at my feet. While my left foot was bare, my right had a sock that covered about a quarter of my lower leg. He raised his head to look at me, a silent question hanging in the air.

“...Metal chafes,” I explained with a shrug. “It rubs against my leg every night. See?” I pulled down the sock to reveal the raw looking flesh underneath. All those novels where the damsel in distress or hero is kidnapped and chained in a dungeon for extended periods of time tend to miss this pretty important detail.

Jack leaned forward to examine it, raising his mask slightly as he did so. From this angle I couldn’t see what lay under it, but I could feel his breath on my leg.

It was silent as he traced the scars on my ankle I had forgotten were there. I knew he wanted to ask and I was glad he didn’t because it was hard to explain, even to myself.

After a few moments he fixed his mask and tugged the hem of the sock back into its original position, covering the injury. He then quietly wrapped the shackle around my ankle, checking that the fabric wouldn’t be in the way before locking it and slipping the key into his pocket.

A moment of panic rippled through me as he did, dissolving quickly as I reminded myself that there were always ways to escape in the case of emergency. I pulled my foot onto the bed as I picked up my book. Flipping to the last page I was on looking for where I left off, I became aware that Jack was still in the room. He just stood next to the bed, staring down at me. I shifted under his concealed gaze.

“...Need something?”

“...Nothing,” He muttered, turning away. I frowned, slightly perplexed, but he silently changed the topic by presenting me with a sandwich. My eyes lit up as I saw it was chicken salad, my favorite, and I took it eagerly. As I swallowed the first bite, I suddenly remembered something and cast him a curious look.

“Oh yeah, what was that smell earlier? It smelled like something was burning...” While I tried to avoid asking questions since they were what prompted him to scare me, this one seemed harmless. I'd smelled it the day he gave me the books, too. At the very least, it didn’t smell like burnt flesh

“...Cereal,”

“...Wha...?”

“I had it in the microwave for too long,” I blinked at him slowly. Microwave...?

“...Why...” I trailed off, realization slowly dawning on me. No way, it couldn’t be. But... I couldn’t resist. “...You do know how to make cereal, right?” Jack didn’t respond right away.

“...Yes,” Pausing, he then asked, “...Do you?” Apparently it could be, and it was.

“...Yeah, you just pour it into a bowl, maybe add some milk,”

“Exactly,” He gave a nod, acting as if he was just testing me. At that point I couldn’t help it anymore, and as soon as he turned away I started cracking up.

Yeah, this guy could kill me in an instant, but really? He knew how to drive a car, and so far seemed to be an expert in human anatomy, but he didn’t how to make a simple bowl of a cereal? I knew he didn’t eat human food, but still, cereal’s probably the simplest thing you can cook. It’s so simple, “cooking” is kind of an overstatement. If I weren’t so terrified of him I’d burst out laughing right there and then. However, I still couldn’t stop the snicker that escaped me.

Jack glanced back at me, and I quickly stopped laughing and wiped the smile off my face, looking at him innocently. Watching me silently for a moment, he then turned and exited the room, closing the door. As soon as I heard the front door close in the distance, I burst out laughing. I’d almost forgotten how good it felt to laugh.

If only that amused mood could last forever.


	11. Frustration is Frightening

~Jack~

Frustration filled me as I returned to the cabin, slamming the door behind me. I tossed my mask onto the table and slammed my fist on the wall, shoulders heaving as I seethed with silent rage. Yet again, another failed night of hunting. Every evening I’d practice on dummies before hunting, but after eight days I’d only recovered a fraction of my skill. More often than not, I had to sedate or slit my victims’ throats before removing their organs because I still felt too weak to guarantee a successful kill if they were conscious.

This time, though, it wasn’t because of my weakness. I’d been at his peak today, the best I’d been since escaping captivity. No, this time I’d failed because I’d been distracted by the male occupant of the house I targeted. When I climbed into the window and found him asleep on the couch I had been shocked to see him. The man was grizzled and tan, with a bit of a beard and balding at the top. Everything about him looked just like Pal.

At that moment, something made me freeze. It felt as if I was paralyzed, my chest constricting violently. My breathing suddenly became labored and heavy, my heart pounding in my chest so loudly I could hear it. Dizziness overcame me and I nearly fell to my knees, my hands numb as I pressed against the wall to steady myself. Sweat rolled down my face, and I trembled uncontrollably for no reason.

During this little moment, of course the guy woke up and saw me. His startled shout snapped me out of whatever was happening to me, and I quickly silenced the man, slashing his throat with my scalpel, before running down the hall. The shout had been directed to some woman in another room, telling her to run, and I had to quickly take care of her. By the time I found her hiding in a closet she was already on the line with the local emergency dispatcher, and after slashing her throat I was forced to flee empty-handed before police arrived.

Thinking about it made my blood boil. It was just so frustrating, so... so... I screamed as I pounded the wall again, my fist slamming it so hard that the drywall cracked and broke from the impact, leaving a sizable dent and my fist bloody. Sucking in my breath, I gritted my teeth as I clutched my bleeding hand, the pain quickly replaced by numbness. Tears welled in my eyes as I slowly slid to the ground, my vision blurring.

Why?

Why did I feel like this?

Why had I frozen up then?

Why did I feel so afraid?

Suddenly I found myself back in that dungeon of a basement, sitting on the cold floor with my arms chained to the wall above my head. Panic filled me as I rattled the chains, struggling to break free. The metal balls encasing my hands rang as they banged against the wall behind me, the loud ringing sounds making me wince. Desperately I yelled, wordless screams and cries for help. Silent tears trickled down my cheeks as I heard a dark chuckle from across the room

“Struggle all you want, but you won't be able to escape anytime soon. You’ll be here a looong time,” A deep voice declared. “I can’t wait to see what your offspring will look like...” It began laughing malevolently as I continued thrashing against my restraints.

Squeezing my eyelids shut over my empty sockets, I emitted a final, ear-shattering scream before opening them to find myself back in my home. I was on the ground by the door curled in a small ball, still cradling my bleeding hand with both black cotton gloves stained red. My heart was thundering so hard my body seemed to shake with each beat, and my breathing was still heavy. I panted heavily, staying like that for a few moments as I waited for my heart to slow before rolling to my feet and tugging off my gloves.

Slowly I pulled myself to my feet, staggering towards the kitchenette and nearly falling several times before reaching the sink and turning the faucet. Cool water flowed out of the spout, and I splashed the liquid onto my face, rubbing it in as I stared at the window. The black sky outside the window caused it to act more like a mirror, allowing my to glimpse a faint reflection of my face. Even if it was difficult to see and out of focus, I could tell I looked awful. My skin was paler, my face tired and bags under my eye sockets.

I panted as I stared at the reflection, and I had to force myself to look away from it. Blood mixed with the water in the bowl as I ran my injured hand under the water, the mixture swirling and spiraling down the drain. Shoulders sagging as I watched it, I waited about thirty seconds or so before turning off the faucet and heading to the bathroom to retrieve the first aid kit. If I were human, my hand would have been broken by the punch; as it was, it was just bruised. The skin around my knuckles were starting to turn purple and blue with hints of green, a rather unsightly color, though it was quickly hidden behind several layers of bandages.

I sighed as I stared at my bandaged hand, flexing my fingers. It hurt, but it would be fine after a few days. For the moment, I just felt... hollow. Empty. I didn’t even feel tired. My mind raced but at the same time nothing ran through it. Actually, wait, one thing did: hunger. I returned to the kitchenette and opened the fridge, pulling out a jar with a half-eaten lung left over from my last victim. It wasn’t much, but it would do. Munching on it absently, I sat at the table slowly, not really thinking.

Then I heard thud from down the hall and suddenly tensed. Shit! Saphira! I started to jump up from my seat and run to her room, only to freeze and slowly sit back down. No doubt she had heard my little fit. Even if she’d been asleep when I’d returned, my screaming would have undoubtedly woken her up. Right now she was probably terrified for her life, in some corner of her room. It wouldn’t really comfort her to see me like this.

I sighed as I lowered my eyeless gaze to my bandaged hand.

 

~Saphira~

The story had just reached its climax, the main character was running from the monster, when suddenly I heard the front door open. Immediately I tensed, glancing at my own door anxiously. I didn’t have a clock, but based on how far I’d gotten in the story it couldn’t have been more than a couple hours since Jack had left. I held my breath, waiting for the new arrival to give some indication of their identity, hoping it was either Jack or one of the “friends” he had mentioned.

Soon enough I confirmed it to indeed be Jack as I heard his voice, but it wasn’t very comforting. I heard a loud thump as he yelled out in frustration, making me wince. Bad night, it seemed. I sat frozen, book still open in my hands, silently praying for him not to enter my room and take out his wrath on me. I can’t say why that was my first instinct, after all Jack had never shown any true aggression towards me. Something deep down made me feel like I had been in this situation before.

He yelled again and there was another thump, but this one was heavier than the first, almost like a crash, and he gave a startled yelp. For a moment, all was silent, my heart pounding.

Then he screamed. This scream wasn’t angry like his earlier shouts. No, this one was much darker and complex. A violent vortex of dark emotions swirled in his wordless yell, emotions I had never expected to hear from him: Desperation, panic, anguish... fear. His scream sounded so painful, like a wounded or cornered animal crying for help. It broke my heart to hear it and deep in my soul I felt like I had screamed like that once before, but couldn’t remember why.

Slowly I closed my book and rose from the bed, quietly approaching the door. I had no idea why I did that. I reached a shaky hand for the doorknob, but stopped short of touching it.

Part of me wanted to go outside and see what was wrong—because clearly something was—but I couldn’t bring myself to open the door yet. I just stood there, feeling helpless and paralyzed as I listened to the desperate wailing continue.

Eventually his screams died out, and after a while I heard him moving. I held my breath as his footsteps approached the hallway but he just went to the bathroom across the hall, messing with the drawers before returning to the main part of the cabin. Deafening silence fell over the house. I sat down on my bed, leaning against the wall. I don’t know how long I sat in the dark like that before to door opened and Jack’s outline could be seen in the doorway.

“Jack?” My voice was so soft I wasn’t sure he heard me, at least until I heard him sigh.

“I scared you didn’t I? I’m sorry…” He hadn’t moved from the doorway.

“I’m more concerned than anything…” I trailed off hesitant to ask him what was wrong. I sighed leaning my head back against the wall. I heard Jack walk to the bed and sit down on the edge, beckoning me to come closer. I obeyed silently and moved closer to him. His hand reached out to stroke my hair, slow and steady. I could sense that this was soothing to him so I leaned closer to him. Then his hand hesitated for a moment before suddenly gripping my hair tightly and pulling my head back. He leaned in and I saw it wasn’t Jack, but Pal, his mouth twisted into a chilling grin.

“Hello Sunshine…” He hissed and I screamed, pulling free of him. I fell off the bed and crawled under the bed, cowering in a tight ball with my hands over my head. When I cracked open my eyes I saw that it was daylight and it had been a bad dream.

With a strangled sigh I got up the chain rattling lightly as I crossed the room to the dresser, contemplating what I should wear, even if I didn’t want to change. Typically I start the day with a shower before changing my bandages, but the thought of showering wasn’t all that appealing at the moment.

 

~~~~~

In the end, Jack never had come to my room last night. I must’ve fallen asleep leaning against the wall after hearing Jack’s screams. Just remembering it formed a knot in my stomach and an ache in my heart.

Hesitating, I steeled myself and opened the door, peering into the hallway.

“...Jack?” I called softly. Getting no response, I slowly walked to the end of the hall as far as the chain would let me, and glanced around. From where I stood I could see most of the cabin’s main room. There was a noticeable dent in the wall by the front door, the plaster cracked and broken in, and I couldn’t help noting it seemed to be fist-sized. That explained all that thumping last night. There was no sign of Jack, though, so I retreated back into the hallway

Since the bathroom door was open, he must still be in his room. It was at the back end of the hall, and I hadn't even walked in that direction since arriving. I stared at his door, I didn’t really want to wake him up. Dejected, I turned and walked back to my room when suddenly I heard a gasp from Jack’s room. I tensed, listening closely. It sounded like... sobbing?

Slowly I walked to the door, hesitating before knocking.

“Jack?” I called softly. The sounds stopped, and after a few moments I inhaled sharply and called again, “Jack? Are... are you okay?” There was a pause, but then I heard some shuffling from inside and the doorknob turned. When the door opened, I nearly stumbled back at the sight. Jack stood in the doorway, wearing a black tank top and sweatpants. His brown hair was incredibly messy, strands sprouting out in every direction from behind his mask which seemed to have been put on haphazardly. What really caught my attention, though, was his body. This was the first time I’d seen him out of his usual black hoodie and jeans combo, and I couldn’t help noticing how thin his gray arms were. One of his hands was also bandaged.

“What is it, Saphira?” He mumbled groggily, lifting his mask a little as he yawned.

“Well, uh...” I stammered, unable to find the words. Shuffling my feet nervously, the chain rattled a bit. Suddenly Jack gave a startled yelp and jumped back.

“NO!” he screamed, scrambling back and shaking his head violently. “STAY AWAY! LEAVE ME ALONE! LEAVE ME ALONE!” Startled by the sudden outburst, I backed away only to trip over the chain and fall. I yelped, more out of surprise than pain, and Jack suddenly froze. Slowly his shoulders slumped as he relaxed and shook his head, mumbling curses under his breath, before glancing down at me. I shrank away from the hand he extended in my direction, scooting away until my back was pressed against the wall. After a few moments nothing happened, and I timidly opened one eye to peek at him.

Jack was now crouching in front of me, hand extended towards me, but kept low to the floor. I stared at it as if it was going to somehow cause me pain, and it took me a few seconds to realize he was offering to help me up. Hesitantly I took his hand and he gently pulled me to my feet, glancing away.

“...Sorry...”

“It’s okay… my reaction was unnecessary...” I mumbled, leaning my back against the wall. His gaze fell to my ankle, and after a moment he just silently walked down the hall, quickly returning with something in his hand. Crouching by my leg, he revealed the key and fit it into the shackle, unlocking it and letting it fall to the ground with a clatter.

“Thanks...”

“...” He didn’t respond right away, but then he abruptly reached for my ankle. Squeaking in surprise, I watched as he rolled down the sock, the place where the shackle would sit. He sighed as he rolled it back up and stood.

“Sorry... I forgot to unlock it last night... I didn’t have a good night,”

“...It’s okay, not the first time I’ve slept chained to the bed,” I said trying to smile, and could have sworn he flinched.

“...I’ll make your breakfast...” He started, but I shook my head.

“Uh, why don’t I make it today?” I suggested. “No offense, but you seem a little... off,” He looked at me silently for a moment and I held my breath, expecting him to refuse or get mad, but instead he just nodded slowly.

“...Alright...” Wait, did he really just agree? I’d expected more of a fight. Something really WAS wrong. I kept silent, though, as I followed him to the main part of the cabin. He plopped onto the couch while I headed to the kitchenette and opened the fridge.

“...There’s a half-eaten lung in here,”

“Oh, that’s just leftovers from last night... I couldn’t finish, though,”

“...You said you had cereal?” I wasn’t in the mood to open the fridge again.

“Yeah. It’s in the fridge, bottom shelf,”

“...You don’t know much about human food, do you?” I asked with a soft chuckle, and he shrugged. Seriously, how had this guy been feeding me the last few days?

I walked to the pantry and opened it, locating a loaf of bread and some jelly. Jelly was supposed to be refrigerated, but I assumed he’d put peanut butter in the fridge. Wordlessly I took the jar and bread and made myself a warm jelly and cold peanut butter sandwich, quickly putting the jar’s in their proper places before sitting at the table. Jack glanced at me but didn’t offer any objections, so I assumed it was okay.

Neither of us spoke, each in our own little worlds. My thoughts quickly wandered to Jack’s little outburst this morning when he’d seen me. What was that about? While at the time he’d just seemed angry, now I thought that I’d heard a little panic in his voice, too. I glanced at him discreetly. At the moment he was just staring at the dim TV set, probably deep in thought as well. One of his arms was draped over the back of the couch, and again I couldn’t help noticing how thin it seemed. Muscles were there, sure, but overall it seemed rather, well, scrawny, probably from who-knows-how-long of disuse.

Wait... Suddenly a new possibility struck me, making me pause mid-bite. Could it be...? I quickly shook my head. His screaming from the previous night came back, his voice desperate and filled with panic. This morning he’d had similar notes of despair when he’d yelled at me. I recalled how I thought I’d heard sobbing from his room as well. Somehow I knew it was all connected, and the pieces seemed to fit together in regards to my new theory. I couldn’t exactly ask him about it, though,

“Saphira?” I was jarred from my thoughts by Jack’s voice, and turned to see him looking at me with his head tilted. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” I mumbled, blinking. “Why?”

“...You’ve been holding your sandwich next to your mouth for about three minutes without eating,” I blinked and turned my head back. Sure enough, I was holding it just inches from my mouth. Staring at it dumbly for a few seconds, I then took a large bite and swallowed.

“Just thinking,” I explained with a shrug. Jack looked at me for a few moments but didn’t press it further, turning back. He switched on the television, the screen lighting up to display an ad for some special baking pan. He quickly changed the channel, flipping through them until he reached the local news. I watched in surprise, half-expecting to be sent back to my room, but he didn’t say anything so I just turned in the chair for a better view of the TV.

“...will hopefully win,” the newscaster chuckled, apparently wrapping up a story on a local sports team. “An update on the young man’s body that was found in his home, it is believed he killed himself. Family members reported him to have been acting strangely in the week leading up to his death” A picture showed on the screen, and Jack snorted, surprising me

“Sounds like BEN,” he muttered, and I blinked.

“BEN?” I repeated, puzzled. He turned his head back to me.

“...A friend,” He left it at that, and I didn’t press any further. It didn’t matter about Jack’s friends, something in the back of my mind told me that I would find out soon enough.

The reporter featured an interview with the victim’s mother before cutting to commercial, and when it came back they gave the weather. Sunny, the smiling woman reported, with high temperatures. As soon as it finished Jack turned off the TV and got up, stretching.

“Where are your shoes?” I blinked, jarred by the sudden question.

“Huh? Oh, uh, my room... Why...?

“Put them on,” he told me, heading for the hall. “We’re going out,”

Birdsong filled the air as I stepped outside, a warm breeze ruffling my hair. Sunlight filtered through the thick canopies of leaves above us, and a smile flashed across my lips as I inhaled the air, savoring the various scents of the woods around me. It had been more than a week since I’d last been outside, and the fresh air felt and tasted...  _Amazing._

“Come on,” Jack said, snapping me out of my reverie, and I nodded as I quickly followed him. After changing out of our night clothes, Jack had grabbed a backpack and led me outside. I paused as we passed Pal’s pickup truck, casting it an uncertain glance as it raised old memories, but I turned my attention away and continued following Jack. I didn’t know why he was taking me outside, but right now I wasn’t complaining. I highly doubted he was taking me somewhere to kill me. It was the middle of the day, after all, and his cabin was already isolated enough. Neither of us spoke as we walked the woods, following a faint dirt trail to places unknown, but that was okay.

I glanced around in wonder. Growing up alone in the mountains, I’d always felt a strong connection to nature, so I felt perfectly content here. Fresh green leaves littered the trail, bending as we stepped on them but being too soft to break. Shadows covered most of the ground due to the thick canopies of the trees towering above us, but the sun managed to penetrate it anyway and cast plenty of light. I heard animals scurrying among the trees, and smiled as I saw a squirrel jump from one tree to another, almost gliding through the air before landing and continuing on its way nonchalantly.

After about fifteen minutes of walking we reached a small clearing. Several dummies hung from the trees, covered in cuts and slashes with stuffing dripping to the ground. I shuddered slightly as I realized that most of the cuts were around the locations of organs. Obviously this was where Jack practiced. He gestured for me to sit on a tree stump as he set his bag on the ground, and I used my sleeve to brush off any bugs before doing so.

“Are you good at sewing?” he asked as he sorted through the bag, and I shrugged

“I'm... so-so?” I hadn’t sewn that often.

“Good enough,” He tossed me a small plastic red box, and I opened it to see it was full of several pre-threaded needles and swatches of fabric. As I removed one of the needles to examine it Jack cut down one of the dummies from the tree, grunting as he carried it over to me. Patches covered its surface where the cuts were, and he quickly tore them off. Setting it on my lap, he told me, “Sew new patches on it,”

So he brought me outside just to do chores? Oh well, at least I was outside that musty room. I nodded as I removed a swatch of blue fabric and laid it over one of the holes, carefully piercing the harsh material of the dummy with the needle. Meanwhile Jack removed another dummy and set to work with his own sewing kit. We worked in silence for a while, only the symphony of nature filling the void. After about three patches my fingers were getting sore from holding the tiny needle so I decided to take a small break. A glance at Jack's dummy revealed he’d managed to patch only two more holes than I had, and much more shabbily. Weird, I thought. I’d expected him to be better, since he probably had more experience.

Then I realized he was sewing with the bandaged hand.

I frowned as I watched him. I assumed he’d hurt it when he punched the wall or whatever. Why had he done that? It wasn’t just because he’d had a bad night, that horrible wailing afterwards indicated something more. Again my earlier suspicion came to mind, but the theory still felt pretty outrageous. And yet…

 

~Jack~

Sewing new patches onto the dummy was taking a bit longer than it should thanks to my bruised hand. Bending my hand to grip the tiny needle created a dull pain, and I gritted my teeth as I tried to ignore it. I should have been done with twice as much by now, this was just getting more frustrating by the second. I uttered a small curse as I pricked my finger, sucking in a sharp breath.

It was at that point I noticed that Saphira was staring at me. Frowning, I tilted my head and mumbled, “What?”

“Nothing,” She quickly replied. Pausing, she added, “Want to take a break?” I didn’t respond, but instead just sighed and shrugged. It wasn’t like I was getting much done anyway, I could use the time to cool off. I pushed the dummy off my lap and opened the backpack, removing a water bottle and tossing it to her. As she unscrewed the cap and took a grateful sip I watched silently, just... thinking.

I wasn’t sure why I’d brought Saphira along. It wasn’t like I needed her help. Sure, I was having trouble, but I would have gotten it done eventually. I could have easily left her alone, but today I didn’t feel like it. Last night I’d forgotten to take off her shackle, and I didn’t want to make her wear it anymore than necessary, nor did I feel like locking her in her room. Except those shouldn’t matter. Sure, I cared about her physical well-being, but she was just a pet to me, a plaything to toy with mentally.

Maybe I just didn’t want to be alone.

After going to bed I’d been plagued all night by dreams of my captivity. Whenever I drifted off I dreamed I was back in that basement, completely immobile while that man’s demonic cackling filled my ears. Panic and desperation filled me each time, emotions which were alien to me. Yes, I created them in my victims, but I myself hadn’t experienced those feelings in years. No matter what I did I never seemed able to wake up, and when I did I’d just cry softly before falling asleep again. Hearing the chains rattle when Saphira knocked on my door that morning hadn’t helped, making me think for a brief, terrifying moment that Pal had returned. Speaking of the chain...

I cast a discreet guilty glance at Saphira’s ankle. Right now, I felt I was no better than my own captor. Sure, I gave her considerably more freedom than Pal had given me, but that still wasn’t much to talk about. Yesterday was the first time I’d become aware of the potential long term effects. While I’d lost circulation in my arms from being suspended above my head for so long, I’d still had my sleeves to protect my skin from the metal.

A bit of guilt filled me as I thought about it. Sighing, I reached into the bag and pulled out the remains of the lung. I hadn’t been too hungry last night so there was still a quarter of it left. Absently I lifted my mask a little and raised it to my mouth taking a noisy bite. I began to get lost in my thoughts when I saw Saphira stand and walk closer to me. Her eyes were fixed on my arms.

“Jack?”

“Hmm?”

“I know you don’t like to think on it, but how long were you his prisoner?” I stiffened at her inquiry. I ran over the numbers in my head knowing that there was something more on her mind than just what had happened in that place.

“Six or seven months… Imobile, starving, tortured…” I spat gritting my teeth as flashes of those months came to me. She was silent for a moment.

“Six years, seven months, and twenty-two days...” She muttered before looking me in the eyes. “You’re going about getting your strength back all wrong, you need to do pull ups, push ups, and that sort of thing,” She had a fierceness in her multicolored eyes I hadn’t ever seen in their depths before. I raised an eyebrow, even if she couldn’t see it.

“Why do you care?” I questioned taking another bite of the lung. She flashed me a sly smile.

“Because I’m next on the menu if you don’t get your strength back,” I could tell she was joking but her eyes seemed to say more.

I sat quietly, finished off the lung and thinking about what she had suggested when a scent suddenly caught my attention. That smell... Was it...? I glanced around trying to get an idea of where it was coming from.

“Saphira,” I said, and her eyes focused on me. “Stay here. Don’t go anywhere. Got it?” She nodded slowly, her attention seeming to be else where already.

“I’ll keep working,” Satisfied, I turned and followed the scent. The closer I got the stronger it grew, and after a few minutes I came to a stop. Ducking behind a tree, I lifted my mask as I cautiously peered around the corner. A figure was sprawled on the ground, moaning softly with his leg mangled and bloody. A quick appraisal of the scene made it obvious that the man was most likely a camper and had been in that spot for quite a while, probably the result of a bad fall from the tree.

Smirking, I lowered my mask and stepped into the clearing, deliberately stepping on a twig. The man’s head snapped to the side, staring at me with wide eyes. A smile graced my lips as I fingered the scalpel hidden in my pocket, my smirk hidden by my mask.

Looks like I wouldn’t be going hungry after all. 


	12. Time Filled

Blood bubbled along the cut I made with my scalpel, taking my sweet time as I listened to the man scream in painful agony. It had been so long since I’d last been able to truly savor the terror of one watching their final moments, knowing their death were upon them and that they were helpless to stop it. Usually my victims were asleep, and lately I’d been slitting their throats before starting because I was still so weak from captivity.

This man, though, was the perfect victim. He was already injured, and I had mangled his limbs further, first crushing his hands and feet with large stones and then slicing his tendons. Right now this was exactly what I needed, and I would take my sweet time, drawing it out as long as possible. Everything about this was so perfect. Removing a blood-specked glove, the man’s brown eyes widened even further as he saw my ash gray skin and black claw-like nails, uttering a single sob at the sight. Such a glorious sound, almost as beautiful as the screams.

Reaching inside the cut, I felt around the man’s innards until I felt the familiar slimy texture of a kidney, grinning as I wrapped my fingers around it and ripped it out of the body. The man gasped in pain and screeched, but his pain soon turned to disgust as I lifted my mask and raised the kidney to my mouth. Puncturing it with my shark-like teeth, blood spurted as I tore off a chunk and began chewing, strings of flesh dropping onto the man’s face. Vomit rose up in the man’s throat and he turned his head as he puked, bile dripping down his cheek.

“Gross,” I grumbled, but smirked as I said it. Devouring the kidney as graphically as possible, I licked my fingers before reaching inside for more. One by one I removed the man’s innards, starting with the least vital organs and working my way up. Some I devoured right there. Others I just stuffed into the pocket of my hoodie, audibly sloshing around and squishing against each other with each movement I made as I continued the gory drawn-out torture. Tugging the intestines with a single finger, I lifted it until they grew too taut and snapped, making the man screech before I snapped another point to create a long, severed section. I lifted it to my mouth and slurped it like a noodle, ignoring the man’s gagging and further sounds of vomiting as I chewed and swallowed.

Every time the man seemed ready to pass out I would slap his face to keep awake. He couldn’t pass out now, if he were unconscious I couldn’t savor his fear and horror. Gradually the man’s chest became a gory empty husk, its contents vanishing either into my stomach or my pocket. Eventually, my fingers wrapped around the man’s beating heart. I leaned over as I carefully lifted it without severing it, the man’s body twitching at the motion. I cast a final glance at the man’s face. Tears, blood and snot trailed down his chin, his breaths nothing more blubbering sobs. Flesh and blood decorated my razor-sharp teeth as I grinned at the man’s absolute horror, and then I chomped into the man’s heart and his body went still.

By the time I finished, I was filthy with blood but overall satisfied. This more than made up for last night’s failure, and I had enough food to last me a while. Humming cheerfully to myself, I didn’t bother picking up my gloves as I began the walk to the clearing, the organs in my pockets sloshing with each bouncing step. I’d have to return later to collect the remainder of the man’s organs, but first I had to take Saphira home. I chuckled as I imagined her expression when she’d see me covered in blood. No doubt she’d heard the screaming. She’d be so terrified! She might even cry.

“Oh Saphiraaaaa~” I called in a singsong voice, grinning under my mask. “I’m ba...” my voice trailed off as the clearing came into sight, blinking and looking around. The sewing kit and dummies were on the ground, but Saphira was nowhere to be seen. Surprised, I didn’t react right away, just standing in shock. Anger started to rumble inside of me, quickly expanding until it exploded into pure fury and rage. I growled as he slammed my good fist against a tree, my concealed face contorting with rage.

“SAPHIRA!”

 

~Saphira~

Blood-curdling screams rang through the air, making me wince and nearly prick myself with the needle. Jack was obviously busy with a victim, but I didn’t dare run away. It would be a poor idea to run, to leave a safe place a risk being found by the men. Plus I did not want to get on his bad side. In an attempt to ignore the screams I focused all of my attention on sewing patches onto the dummy.

Tying off the final stitch, I gave a sigh and winced as I heard another scream. Shuddering, I opened the box to get another piece of fabric, but of course at that moment a gust of wind came by and the one on top blew away. I quickly closed the box before the rest blew away and pushed the dummy to the ground so I could chase after the airborne fabric.

The wind seemed to be toying with me, always carrying it just out of my reach. I grunted as I squeezed through some bushes, knowing full well I looked like an idiot jumping around and chasing it, but I really didn’t care. Reaching for it, I gave a final jump and sprung into the air, managing to finally snag the cloth between my fingers.

“Finally!” I gasped as I landed, smirking at the cloth. ‘ _Too bad, wind! You lose! ...Was this normal, or was this just a result of going stir crazy?’_

As I stood there pondering my taunts to the wind, I was suddenly startled back into reality by an angry voice.

“SAPHIRA!” I winced, slowly turning around. Twigs snapped violently as footsteps thundered towards my direction, and before I knew it Jack suddenly appeared and lunged at me, pinning me against the nearest tree. I gave a gasp as the air left my lungs from the force of the impact, pain shooting through my spine. Even as I reeled from the pain, I couldn’t help noticing that his navy blue mask had several specks of red. Shiny red splotches stained his clothes. Blood.... He was covered in blood. The sight stirred something primal in me.

“What are you doing?” He growled, pulling me back into the present, and I could easily imagine him baring his teeth under his mask, strings of flesh hanging from the pointed tips. Fear coursed through my veins, my eyes widening as tears threatened to fall. At this point, the only reason my knees hadn’t given out was because Jack was holding me up by my neck, his blood-splattered hands wrapping around it and squeezing painfully. I gasped for air, but his iron grip didn’t release.

“I told you, not to go anywhere! Were you trying to run away?”

“N-no,” I hiss, keeping my voice and gaze level, but his grip just tightened.

“Then why did you leave? What are you doing here, Saphira? Answer me!” I tried to speak, to tell him I was just chasing after the fabric after the wind carried it away, but I couldn’t. His grip on my neck was too tight, he was cutting off my air supply off. Fury radiated from his very being, and I realized that even if I could speak he probably wouldn’t believe me.

He was just too angry, too scared. My vision blurred as my lungs burned, crying out for oxygen, but Jack didn’t release his grip. Instead it only seemed to grow tighter, his growls and yelling louder. His words were becoming a blur, an unidentifiable angry noise, and my vision was starting to turn black.

In that moment, my consciousness threatening to fade, something in me finally snapped.

Survival instincts kicked in, my body began moving on its own. His claws dug into my neck as I thrust my head forward and I could feel blood trickling down, but I didn’t care. My head connected with his forehead, and he let out a cry of surprise as his hands loosened their grip. Gasping in large gulps of sweet, wonderful air, I quickly brought up my knee as hard as I could, hitting him square in the nuts. Inhuman or not, he still had basic male human anatomy, meaning he shared the same weakness as all males. He gave a gasp and squeaked, falling to his knees while clutching the injured area.

Finally free of his grip, I coughed and sputtered as I collapsed the ground, gasping desperately for air. However, I couldn’t stop yet. He wouldn’t be down for long. Rolling onto my stomach, I pushed myself off the ground and quickly began crawling to a rock resting nearby. Adrenaline surged through me, the pain in my neck and back disappearing as I lifted the rock and slowly stumbled to my feet. Jack… He glanced up at me weakly just as I brought the rock down on his head.

 

~~~~~

Adrenaline fueled my steps as I raced through the forest, weaving through the trees while panting heavily. Pain in my neck vaguely bothered me, but I ignored it, pushing my body harder. I had to get this done before he woke.

The cabin came into sight, but I felt no relief, all I could think was:

_What have I done…._

When I’d come to my senses Jack had been sprawled on the ground unconscious, blood matting his hair and his mask crooked, dislodged by the blow. Logic finally returned to me but not entirely, and I quickly dragged him back to the clearing and tied him to a tree with some the ropes used to suspend the dummies. They wouldn’t hold him long once he woke up—they were worn and pretty beaten by the elements—but I didn’t know what else to do.

Once he woke up I knew he’d be furious, and tying him up wouldn’t help, but I just didn’t want to get hurt even more. I had to buy myself time. Pain was clouding my judgment, but I knew I needed to get medical supplies and get back to Jack.

I could recite so many reasons for why I didn’t just run right then, but I knew they were all excuses. I knew the ropes wouldn’t hold him long once he woke up, they were old and worn and had been exposed to the elements for a long time. Yet I didn’t run.

I had removed his mask. I don’t know what I expected to find. I already knew his skin was gray, and I’d seen his mouth plenty of times. That cruel sadistic smirk was etched into my memory forever, but it didn’t quite seem to be his.

However, I had yet to see his face in full. Curiosity got the best of me. Sliding the mask over his face, I carefully lifted it off of his head. Aside from his ashy gray skin, he looked perfectly normal. His nose was a bit angular, his blood speckled lips not too thick nor too thin. Naturally his eyelids were closed when I lifted the mask, but I didn’t dare try to lift them to peek at his eyes lest he stir. I already had a feeling I knew what I’d find under them anyway.

As I stared, the mask slipped from my fingers and fell, and before it hit the ground I was already running, not looking back. I ran as fast as I could, ignoring all of the pain in my back, head, and neck as I raced away from the unconscious being.

_‘Awful. Horrible. Cruel. Evil. Inhuman. A monster. He was just scared, it wasn’t his fault.’_

I paused for a moment leaning against a tree. What if I ran away, where would I go? I had no idea where we were, or what direction to go to find civilization. I was more likely to get lost long before I’d find help, and if Jack found me then... I raised a shaky hand to my neck, wincing at even the lightest touch to the bruised skin. Red stained my finger as I pulled it away, staring at it silently

At that moment, staring at my blood, I realized something. I had nowhere to go, nowhere to run. No matter how far I ran, it was pointless. Even if by some miracle I found help, word would make it to Drisking. They would hunt me again…

I shook my head as if to brush that though away. Pal, the only “family” I had, the only person I knew I could trust with my life, was dead. And he’d tried to kill me. Shaking my head again, I made my way back to the clearing, arms full of the suplies I needed to help Jack.

I always used to find it hard to understand why women had so much trouble leaving abusive partners, but now I thought I might finally understand. Terrifying monster or not, he was literally all I had now. He’d taken me away from Drisking, away from everything I knew, leaving himself my only option.

 

~Jack~

“Ungh...” Grogginess filled my mind as I woke from my dreamless sleep. A dull pain throbbed in the back of my head as I shifted slightly, making me wince and scowl.

_‘What happened...?’_

I didn’t feel like moving, and it took a while for enough sleep to leave so my eyelids could finally open. I glanced around slowly, trying not to make any sudden movement with my head so as to not aggravate the pain. Green leafy trees surrounded me, the air tinted gold by the light of the setting sun. Grunting softly, I tried to get up only to find myself unable to move. Alarm surged through me as I looked down to find a rope binding my chest, tying me to a tree.

_‘No! No no no no!!’_

Terror gripped me as I struggled frantically, ignoring the growing pain in my head from my sudden jostling as I tried desperately to break free.

“LET ME GO!” I screamed. “DON’T DO THIS! I’M NOT SOME WILD ANIMAL! LET! ME! GO!” Birds flew away as I screamed, the thundering of their wings and a few rain drops only adding to my panic. “CAN’T YOU HEAR THAT THUNDER!? IT’S ABOUT TO RAIN! ARE YOU GOING TO LEAVE ME LIKE THIS IN THE RAIN?! DON’T LEAVE ME HERE! PLEASE!”

Black ooze trickled from my empty eye sockets in the place of tears as I thrashed violently against the ropes, overcome by complete and total panic.

_‘Why was this happening? I’d been behaving, hadn’t I? I haven’t tried to bite him lately, and I hadn’t shouted curses or spat in his face for a while. I ate my meals silently and always said thank you, even if it was grudgingly. Why was I being punished? I’d been a good boy. I’d been doing my best to behave. I had. I really had,”_

“...Please...”

My cries and pleas for help died down to a soft whimper as I bowed my head, my shoulders heaving as I quietly sobbed. Yelling wouldn’t change anything. That he was a madman. He only saw me as a toy, something interesting to occupy his time. There was no sense in that man’s head, only cruel, sadistic curiosity. This was just another way to test the inhuman killer, to see if he could break me further, and it was working.

Leaves and twigs snapped as footsteps slowly approached, rain starting to fall steadily, but I kept my head down, unwilling to look up. I didn’t want to see that sadistic glee in that man’s eyes, to hear that cruel, taunting laughter. Sobs convulsed through my body, softly whimpering and not bothering to try to conceal my complete and utter despair. There was no point; the man had already removed my mask, and I was so used to it hiding my face that I didn’t know how to conceal my emotions without it.

 _‘Hopeless. Everything was hopeless.’_ Despair overcame me, black tears flowing from my sockets. Then, softly...

“Jack...?” The voice caught me off-guard. It was soft, feminine and a little sweet, nothing like that man’s rough and deep voice. Tensing, I raised my head slowly to see a soaking wet girl with onyx hair and ragged clothes standing before me, her eyes wide pools of rainbows as she stared down at me. For a moment I didn’t react, completely confused. This wasn’t my captor, this was someone else. Who was she?

And then suddenly, everything came back to me. That man “Pal” was dead, he’d been dead for almost two weeks now. This girl was Saphira, my savior. The angel who had saved me from the darkness, who had shown me light after spending so long trapped in an endless vortex of despair. I was free now, never to worry about that monster again. But then... why was I tied to the tree? Why was I being held prisoner again?

“...Why?” I whispered, my expression filled with confusion and emptiness as I stared at her. “Why are you doing this...? What did I do...? Why...?”

At that point my voice cracked and my head fell forward limply, black tears trickling from the voids where my eyes should be.


	13. Chapter 13

~Saphira~

When I returned to the clearing, I expected Jack to be furious. I expected him to scream and lash out at me, to violently threaten me for fighting back and tying him up, to strangle me into unconsciousness. What I did not expect was for him to be a sniveling pathetic mess.

Disgust filled me as I stared down at him. I couldn’t stomach how pathetic he was acting, just because he was tied to a tree with a little rope. He could break that easily! **I** could break it if I wanted to!

This was the guy who took everything I knew from away from me, yet I couldn’t help feel pity for him as I stared at him. His expression was full of so much pain, desperation, helplessness, despair... I sighed as I walked over, crouching next to the knot on the side of the tree.

“Jack, calm down,” I told him softly, untying the knot slowly and carefully. “You’re okay, nothing’s wrong...” His head was bowed, his bangs covering his hollow eyes. As I’d suspected, the moniker “Eyeless Jack” was pretty literal, but I could think about that later.

“Why?” he whispered, not looking at me. Black ooze dripped from his face to the ground, probably his substitute for tears. “ _Why...?”_

“You didn’t leave me any other choice,” The ropes fell loosely around him and he quickly hugged his knees to his chest, burying his face in his arms.

“Jack I’m going to clean your head wound, okay?” I asked softly inching closer to him. He gave a small nod, but otherwise didn’t move. I wetted a cloth and began gently wiping the blood from his head.

“I’m going to ask you a couple of simple questions to check your mental status,” He nodded again and I could just barely see the cut on his scalp. It wasn’t very deep so I applied a liquid bandage.

“What’s your name?”

“Eyeless Jack,”

“What is the date?”

“October 5, 2017,”

“Last one, can you recite the last ten letters of the alphabet backwards,”

“Z, Y, X, W, V, U, T, S, R, Q….” He mumbled finally looking up at me. I slowly took out a pen light.

“Okay I’m going to shine this in your sockets briefly to check the reactivity,” He just gazed at me numbly. I checked his sockets, and was a bit surprised to find light sensitive structures at the back that reacted within normal parameters to my pen light.

“Come on, Jack, let’s go home...” He nodded feebly as I helped him to his feet, and he instantly leaned on me for support. As we began the walk back to the cabin he continued leaning on me for support, making progress slow. With each step I could hear something sloshing, and I almost gagged as I realized he had organs stuffed into his pocket.

_‘Gross.’_ I pushed it out of my mind, focusing on hurrying back so I could take a long shower. Jack didn’t look directly at me, head bowed to the ground, but he stole glances every now and then.

“...What happened to your neck?” He muttered, his voice almost too soft to hear.

“...You tried to strangle me,” I replied. Didn’t he remember what happened? Well, since he wasn’t angry now, I decided to use this opportunity to clear all of that up. “While you were gone, a gust of wind blew away one of the patches, and when I went to get it. You came back and thought I ran away,” He didn’t respond right away, just giving a small, feeble nod.

“...I’m sorry...” His empty gaze was cast downwards, black “tears” still trickling down his cheek. His expression was hollow and empty, full of defeat. “...I’m sorry...”

“Stop apologizing, you weren’t in your right mind,”

“...Oh... Sorry...” I sighed and shook my head, almost wanting to laugh. This was just getting ridiculous. What happened to the scary monster who’d been terrifying me for fun for the past week? Silence fell over us until we finally reached the cabin, and I walked him inside and closed the door. I started to let him go but as I lifted his arm off my shoulder his legs began to give out, forcing me to quickly pull it back into place. I sighed and began walking to the hall, grumbling under my breath the entire way. Jack’s room was rather nice compared to mine, complete with a couple posters, a mirror and a large bookshelf full to the brim with everything from novels and biographies to textbooks. His bed was still messy from that morning, the covers in complete disarray, and I helped him over to it and released him. Immediately he flopped back onto the pillow, staring at the ceiling vacantly. I sighed as I shook my head.

Unable to bear watching him like this any longer, I turned away walked towards the door only to pause by the bookshelf. Skimming the titles, I cast a glance at Jack before quietly pulling out a thick textbook and quickly left, closing the door behind me.

 

~*~

“Ow... Ow... Ow...”

Red stained the peroxide-soaked white cotton ball as I dabbed at the cuts on my neck, grimacing at the pain. Purple and black bruises covered the surface of my skin, making every little touch even more painful. Of all the places to get hurt, my neck was probably the worst. It was already still pretty sensitive from the first time he’d strangled me, but this one had been even rougher.

Gingerly I applied bandages, wincing at the pain caused by even the light pressure it placed on my bruised skin. Painful, painful, painful. This would take some time to go away, and it hurt like hell. I smiled bitterly at my bruised and frazzled reflection, chuckling darkly at my own stupidity. I ignored the aching pain in my back as I returned to the room that I’d been using for nearly two weeks now, flopping onto the bed and opening the psych textbook I’d snagged from his room.

Here I was in my room, reading a psychology textbook instead of any number of things a normal person in this situation would do. An actual professional-grade psychology textbook at that. Yawning, I flipped through the pages only to stop as a certain phrase suddenly caught my eye. I snapped to attention as I carefully read the section, then re-read it several times. A few of the terms were unfamiliar to me, but I was able to understand enough. My earlier suspicions grew stronger as I read it. I couldn’t confirm all of the symptoms, but there were a couple I definitely recognized. After reading it so many times I practically had it memorized, I decided I had nothing more I could learn from it and quietly closed the book with a soft sigh. I was almost totally convinced now. Jack had PTSD. He seemed to be experiencing traumatic flashback episodes.

When he’d woken tied to a tree his first thought was obviously that Pal was the one who left him there, not me. He’d panicked and given up too fast, resigning himself quickly and easily. Even when I appeared he didn’t react with anger, instead looking shocked and betrayed.

Pal had broken him. I don’t know what went on in that basement, but obviously at some point his will had been completely shattered. Cautiously I exited the bedroom, peering nervously at my laptop on the kitchen table. Glancing at Jack’s closed door, I sat down at the table and opened it, the screen quickly lighting up and casting its familiar glow on my body. It had been so long since I’d last touched it, the keys felt alien yet familiar under my fingertips. The login screen was open, but I didn’t enter my password. Instead I pressed “switch user”, bringing up a screen with two profiles: mine and Pal’s.

Trembling slightly, I input his password and his profile loaded, the screen displaying a photo of us smiling together as the background. While the laptop was primarily mine, Pal still had an account on it. Our desktop computer was old, and recently it stopped accepting flash drives and SD cards. As a result, every time he needed to upload photos from his camera he’d use my laptop and just email them to himself. However, he wasn’t the most computer-savvy person and never deleted them. I opened his documents and scrolled through them, finding the latest files. Inhaling sharply, I double-clicked it and opened it.

Filling the screen was a navy blue mask, black paint dripping from the eye sockets.


End file.
